Anthology Year One
by DateMe
Summary: This anthology is an accumulation of all of our first place fanfiction winners for our first year, 2008 . Pairings included: NejiHina, GaaHina, SasuHina, LeeHina, ShinoHina, NaruHina, KibaHina, KakaHina, ItaHina, ShikaHina and more!
1. January, NejiHina

**Anthology -- Year One  
**_(A note from the staff...)_

This anthology is an accumulation of all of our first place fanfiction winners for our first year (2008). All of our entrants worked hard to ensure that their stories were entertaining, funny, sweet, sad, romantic, friendly (or whatever else the case may be), so be sure to take your time perusing through our collection. You won't be disappointed with what you read.

There are a few stories with more than one chapter and a few months with more than one winner, so don't be surprised if you see April or February twice in the drop down menu.

The DateMe staff would like to apologize for the late release of this anthology. Due to many circumstances (including giving the DeviantArt version of DateMe a much needed facelift for 2009) outside of their control, they simply didn't have time to post this until now. We hope that the winners and readers will all forgive us for being so tardy.

- 000 -

**January 2008**

**Title:** A Snowball Fight to Remember  
**Author:** BlueQuartzFoxy  
**Rating:** PG-13 ( T )  
**Challenge:** A New Beginning  
**Pairing:** NejiHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

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Slender mitten-covered hands delved deeply into a mound of snow. Skilled fingers formed a perfect snowball as a right arm pulled back to launch the ball of cold wet stuff. First however, pale eyes strained- faintly visible wrinkles proved she was using Byakugan to seek out her target-.

'There!' Hinata thought as she turned ninety-degrees to her right, her arm raised high to pelt her younger sister with the snowball; yet the elder sibling's reaction was too slow, for within a second Hinata's face flinched as wet snow hit the side of her face.

"Ahhh! Cold. Cold. Cold!" Hinata squealed as some snow managed to wiggle its way underneath the hood of a jacket and down her neck and back.

"Heh, I gotcha you good this time, Hinata!' Hanabi crowed, yet the young Genin quickly ducked back around the side of the house when Hinata blindly threw her snowball…and missed.

While Hinata attempted to brush bits of melting snow off her neck, Hanabi dared once more to venture from around her secure 'fort'.

"Hinata…I hate to break this to you; but your aiming could use a little work." Hanabi teased followed closely by laughter as the younger sister saw Hinata blush in embarrassment while at the same time her eyes narrowed into a look of determination.

Earlier that morning Hinata was simply minding her own business, passing by the training grounds, when Hanabi suddenly started pelting her with snowballs. Having no choice, since Hanabi refused her older sister to cross until they engaged in a snowball fight, Hinata soon found herself forgetting her purpose for leaving the Hyuuga compound in the first place.

And that seemed to be Hanabi's plan. The younger sister recently took to complaining that ever since Hinata became a Jounin, she rarely saw her elder sibling around. So, even though it was inconvenient- yet fun- Hinata allowed herself to take part in Hanabi's snow fight.

What was frustrating however was the fact that Hanabi was so smug when she made a hit; yet whenever Hinata managed to nail her sister, the younger would shout that she was cheating or it the hit was simply dumb luck.

So while Hanabi chuckled to herself as her sister's cold misfortune, Hinata quickly bent down another mound of snow, quickly gathering up and shaping a large snowball in her hand.

Now it was Hanabi's turn to be caught unawares as Hinata's snowball made it's mark.

"Ugh!" Hanabi groaned as she wiped bits of snow off her check, "Quit cheating Hinata!" the younger sister yelled while shaking her right fist.

"I'm not cheating," Hinata said calmly, "You said it's only cheating when you hit someone after they've called a time out."

Hanabi's mouth curved down into a frown; but her displeasure didn't stop the girl from reaching down to gather more snow, Hinata mimicked her sister's action; both young women grinning like playful kids.

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'Take care Neji!" Tenten shouted as she waved before turning around.

"Good job on the mission." Lee said with a wide 'nice guy' grin before he turned, following Tenten down the same pathway, while Neji diverted to the left as the stone walkway forked.

A puff of warm white air escaped parted lips as Neji heaved a rare sigh of exhaustion. This last mission had been especially difficult and now all he wanted to do was eat a hot meal- to stave off the cold he was starting to feel from head to toe- and then crawl into bed and sleep.

However Neji's plans of a quiet afternoon was for naught, since the first noise to greet the young Jounin's ears were girlish giggles and surprised squeals.

Feeling a headache coming on, Neji's gaze narrowed, irritable thoughts already springing to mind as the young man prepared himself to snap at the children who had the gall to play when he was having a bad day.

Needless to say, Neji was surprised…no shocked to see that the two people he intended to 'tell off' was Hinata-sama and her younger sister.

For a moment Neji found himself struck silent and still as he watched Hinata laugh, her covered hands brushing snow off her pink flushed face.

This was one of the occasions Neji could recall seeing the young heiress so carefree and…happy.

Still, he wanted to rest and since the two Main House daughters were playing near the Branch House quarters, Neji knew he had to interrupt this snowball fight, if he had any hopes of resting that is.

"Hinata-sama…Hanabi-sama…could you move your snowball fight somewhere else…" Neji began, only to be interrupted mid-sentence as a snow ball hit him right between the eyes.

"Ha, looks like you did hit something after all!" Hanabi yelled, or at least Neji assumed it was Hanabi since he couldn't see a darn thing with all the snow covering his face.

'Oh no…' Hinata thought as she watched Neji's hands first fist tightly until he forced them to relax enough to reach up and wipe snow off his face.

And the look in his eyes, while mostly unreadable, didn't seem to be the look of one who found a face full of snow amusing.

"Who threw that?" Neji asked calmly.

Hanabi and Hinata exchanged nervous glances, at first it seemed both sisters were going to plea the fifth at the same time in an attempt to confuse Neji; but at the last second Hanabi caved.

"Hinata did it!" the younger sister stated before quickly ducking behind Hinata for protection.

"Hinata-sama…"

Hianta couldn't help but cringe as Neji spoke to her.

"I'm surprised that you would take part in such a childish game."

"Hey!" Hanabi piped up, "Snowball fights aren't childish! There are battles which require cunning, split second timing, and tolerance to cold and…stuff…" the young girl muttered.

"Throwing snow at one another doesn't sound very mature to me, Hanabi-sama." Neji said.

"Sorry Neji-niisan, I didn't mean to hit you with a snowball, I guess my aim was a little bit off." Hinata said suddenly, interrupting Hanabi and Neji's growing argument on the merits, or lack there of, of snowball fights.

Wiping away the last bits of, Neji frowned once more. He hated how Hinata always acted so down trodden and apologetic over trivial things. No one got hurt, well save for himself since the cold snow made his headache worsen. Also Hinata said so herself she hadn't intended to hit Neji in order to get him into the snowball fight, so in Neji's mind the young woman had nothing to be 'sorry' about.

"It's alright, Hinata-sama." Neji said, "But if you don't mind, could you and your sister take your snowball fight elsewhere."

Pale lavender eyes blinked as Hinata looked around to realize she and Hanabi had moved around the Hyuuga compound so much that they were now standing only a few feet from the Branch House quarters.

"Ah of course! You must be tired from your mission. We'll go to another part of the compound so you can rest." Hinata said, understanding as always, even before Neji could give the reason as to why he wanted his cousins to take their frivolity somewhere else.

"But Hinata…" the younger girl whined, "we don't have to leave just because Neji told us to." Hanabi protested even as the older sister took her hand to lead the second heiress away.

Neji watched the two sisters walk forward a few steps as Hanabi's words sank in.

Though he hadn't rudely demanded they leave or physically forced them to move, Neji knew he had broken up Hinata and Hanabi's fun.

After a moment's pause Neji decided as to what he must do next.

---

Hinata half-hoped that Neji would join the snowball fight, even if he was hit solely by accident; but her hope faltered and vanished when Hinata looked at Neji to see how tired her older cousin looked.

Though older and more experienced shinobi often told Hinata being a Jounin was a difficult task, the young woman hadn't truly appreciated how hard- and deadly- the solo missions were. Since she worked with Team 8 for so long, Hinata found herself having trouble adjusting to doing the occasional mission without Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino watching her back.

Within the past year Neji helped, in his own cool and aloof Neji-way, Hinata grow accustomed to being alone on those missions. And as they trained, Hinata could tell she was getting stronger, more confident, and more…like an adult. Because with Neji's help, Hinata knew that she was growing out of being a simple girl-child who wished to do good things.

And while childish things were being forgotten, Hinata found herself growing into the frame of a young woman who could accomplish those things she could only wish for in the past.

Granted she couldn't take full credit for the change. Naruto, her idol and childhood crush, inspired her to keep moving onward. Kurenai-sensei and her teammates helped her reach this point. And Neji…

Neji gave her the knowledge, the tools, and offered his own brand of quiet encouragement.

Speaking of Neji…

"Hinata-sama, could you wait a moment please?" Neji spoke up from behind her and Hanabi.

"Hmm?" Hinata questioned, moving to turn her head; yet once more she was too slow to deflect, let alone see, a snowball being launched at her back.

At first the pale-eyed girl stared at the pieces of snow clinging to her hair and skin, then looked to a smug appearing Neji with a look of disbelief.

Hanabi however didn't take time to consider the fact that Neji- the same man who asked the game to be carried on somewhere else so he could rest- sought out the start the snow war all over again.

Brushing snow off her jacket, Hinata was still confused as to why Neji suddenly joined in what he earlier called 'childish game'.

But after being hit with a second snowball thrown at her by Neji and just barely missed being hit by Hanabi with a third; Hinata decided she was thinking too much before racing to create her own ammo to combat Neji and her younger sister.

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After ten minutes of lobbing snowballs at one another, Neji suggested the three of them try to bring some structure into the snow war by issuing a strict rule.

Hanabi's forehead wrinkled in thought as the younger considered the rule, "So…you're saying if someone is hit five times he's out of the game?"

"He or she is out of the game." Neji corrected since he was certain he could win even if he was up against Hinata and her sister.

-------

Thirty minutes later, Hinata perched on top of the Main House's rooftop, a steadily melting ball of snow in her right hand while her eyes were fed chakra in order to sustain the Byakuguan.

From where she could see, Neji just left a disgruntled Hanabi, who was now out since she'd been hit by a fifth and final snowball.

Swallowing, Hinata wondered if this 'game' was such a good idea. Instead of enjoying herself by throwing random balls of snow in any given direction, Hinata now had to think on her feet and quickly dodge snow attacks. Hanabi was bad enough when the two of them were goofing off, but Neji…Neji seemed to take this game a bit too seriously.

"Now…where did he go?" Hinata asked herself as she dumped the rest of the melting snowball and skidding down from the rooftop. Her eyes scanned far ahead, looking left, right, above, and behind. Her Byakugan had improved a lot since Hinata took to training under Neji's guidance; yet no matter how hard Hinata could train, the small sliver; the very vulnerable and inevitable 'blind spot' would still be there.

It was this very 'spot' Neji took full advantage off.

And Hinata had no warning save for a faint chill tickling up her spine followed quickly by cold shivers as snow hit the back of her winter jacket. The wet snow seeped in through the fabric making Hinata shiver as she spun around in time to see- and dodge- another flying ball of snow.

'Neji only has to hit me one more time before he wins…' Hinata realized since the last snowball counted as the fourth.

"Are you ready to give up, Hinata-sama?" the young man asked, his tone sounding a bit too smug for Hinata's tastes.

Still, Hinata didn't resort to taunts or name calling- as her younger sister had earlier- rather the heiress shook her head.

"No. And I wouldn't be so proud of myself if I were you Niisan. You haven't won yet."

Hinata smiled when she saw Neji struggle to hold back a smirk.

'Neji-niisan must be having fun if he's finding it hard not to make any sort of readable expression.' Hinata thought, glad her older cousin was enjoying himself, even if it meant she would be dodging snowballs well into the early evening.

Hinata smiled again as her fingers formed a seal, within a second the girl vanished in a smoke screen. Once she was gone, Neji did finally smirk. Smoke screen transportation was an old Chuunin level trick; still it was effective.

'Effective, but not quite impressive; still at least Hinata-sama is learning to react quickly in a situation.' Neji thought to himself.

Feelings aside, Neji jumped off the roof, landing in a crouch to the snow covered ground and was off running to find where Hinata hid herself.

The chase was on.

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Heavy pants of warm air escaped Hinata as the girl ran. Even though the young woman knew she was being pursued, Hinata found that she couldn't stop smiling. Odd, maybe; but she just felt so excited and alive as she and Neji kept chasing and throwing snow at one another.

Both had long since forgotten whether Hinata had lost or if she still needed to be hit a couple more times- Neji and Hinata had silently agreed to continue their snowball fight at least until sunset-.

And it had been ages since Hinata could recall enjoying herself so much. And with Neji by her side, having fun as well, triggered thoughts of memories so vague and distant- of the two of them when they were very young- that Hinata found herself torn between enjoying herself and sinking into nostalgia.

Neji, however, didn't give her much time to reminisce or think on much of anything for that matter; since he quickly caught her unawares with yet another snowball.

Hinata, starting to feel cold and tired, barely managed to scramble out of the way and the approaching darkness of twilight impaired her vision and sense of direction.

After lobbing the snowball, Neji smirked for only the second time that day. He could tell in how Hinata moved that she was becoming tired. Though Neji was feeling fatigued as well, he wasn't about to admit, he knew it would only take two more hits before Hinata would have to give up.

But as Neji moved down to gather up more snow, his pale eyes widened as he saw Hinata walked towards the frozen pond located in the center of the Hyuuga compound.

With his Byakugan Neji could see the large spider cracks quickly forming on the icy surface as Hinata slipped on some snow and stepped on the surface.

Acting quickly, Neji dropped the half-formed snowball and rushed over to pull Hinata's hand, just as the woman's right foot sank underneath the cracked ice.

Hinata's snow boot barely touched the frigid water before Neji help her push up onto the embankment.

However as Neji pulled his footing slipped on a combination of ice and snow, so the genius of the Hyuuga clan struggled to regain his balance, only to hinder himself by pulling Hinata down with him.

Both teens landed on the ground with a loud 'thud'.

For a moment Neji could only see black and white dots floating above him, since he hit his head on the ground during the fall.

Above him Hinata's voice sounded close to panicking, "Niisan? …Neji? Neji?! Can you hear me?" the young woman asked.

Neji winced, feeling his former headache return with a vengeance. Now that he stopped running and throwing snow long enough to catch his breath, Neji realized just how exhausted he was. Bone weary, hungry, and cold.

The young man flinched again, closing his eyes in hopes that the pounding headache would ease off once he couldn't see.

"Neji?" Hinata repeated quietly.

"My name…" Neji said.

"What?" Hinata asked, leaning in closer over her cousin in order to hear him.

"That's the first time you've said my name without tagging on 'niisan'." Neji said, slowly opening his eyes, only to blink once then twice, almost not believing what he was seeing.

Hinata stared down at him, her body looming above; far enough of a distance to be innocent and accidental, yet too close since Neji could see speaks of white snow in her indigo hair as easily as he could see her pale lavender eyes.

"Oh…" Hinata replied simply, "I'm sorry I…" she said, starting to stammer and feel uncomfortable as the heiress realized just how close their bodies were to one another.

Hinata shifted to move and stand, but stopped when a hand touched her right shoulder, holding steadfast and still.

Surprised, Hinata stared down at Neji yet tempted to look away as she realized Neji was staring too.

In the past, Neji knew how to sharpen his gaze to the point it would only take one look from him to bring Hinata on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Though it took many years, changes, vast amounts of effort, and forgiveness; both cousins found themselves rewarded by arriving at a point where looks were no longer directed to make a kill.

But, though Neji's eyes weren't hardened with hatred or even narrowed in annoyance, Hinata found she couldn't look directly at her older cousin without having to look away, embarrassed by the intensity of his stare.

Yet after a few awkward moments Neji didn't give his younger cousin a choice as to whether she could look at him or not.

It started with small warm sensations as his fingertips touched along her mitten covered hands. Even though Hinata couldn't fully feel Neji's fingers touch hers what with the wool hand garments being in between; she still couldn't help but shiver.

Then Neji's fingers moved up to touch the edge of her right sleeve.

Even in his own mind, Neji hadn't a clue as to what he was doing. Maybe it was exhaustion playing havoc with his sensibilities. Maybe it had been so long since they had played, laughed, and just enjoyed each other's company.

Or maybe his worst fears were coming true.

The closeness between them remained simply platonic for years, mostly because Hinata was too busy chasing after Naruto and Neji was too preoccupied with training to have second thoughts.

But, everything from the feel of small uncovered bit of her wrist, the melting snow caught in dark hair, the way she could laugh and smile fully, right to the way Hinata seemed to read him and understand, sometimes before Neji even knew what he was thinking or what he felt on a particular matter.

"Neji…?" Hinata breathed, her shoulders bunching up and shivering again as Neji pulled on her arm once more, drawing her closer.

Confused, yet far from being scared or embarrassed enough to pull away; Hinata patiently waited to see, her eyes searching Neji as if looking for answers.

Another tug, only this time Hinata came in closer of her own accord. Neji shivered next as Hinata's right glove gently touched the side of his face, mirroring the exact action his bare- and cold- hand against her cheek.

Silence settled in, but it wasn't oppressive or awkward. Rather it was an exchange of quiet soul searching. Hinata of Neji and Neji of himself.

His worst fear was becoming a reality: he was falling in love with Hinata…that is if it hadn't already happened when he wasn't looking.

The fear factored in because Neji, who once thought he knew Hinata to be weak because of her kindness, found himself as a loss as to just who Hinata was.

She was no longer an unworthy rival, wasn't his cousin, or even his ward to look after and protect.

Rather, in his eyes, Hinata was more than what he previously thought of her, so he couldn't get a firm grasp as to what she was thinking or rather what she thought about him.

Neji almost felt like giving a short bark of cynical laughter. Funny, he once knew Hinata; but now it was his younger cousin who seemed to know him better than he knew himself.

"I…I think we should go inside now…" Hinata said, finally breaking the silence as she gently ducked underneath Neji's arm on her shoulder.

Neji nodded in agreement, the temperature was indeed dropping as the sun began to set over the Hokage monument.

As Hinata stood up, Neji preoccupied himself with brushing snow off of his clothing. When the young man turned his head upward, Neji blinked as he nearly bumped into Hinata's proffered hand.

"Here…" she said with a soft smile, no mention of their staring contest or even a question as to why Neji felt so compelled to touch her.

While Neji found himself grateful for the hand- and the lack of question he couldn't answer yet- the young man almost wished Hinata would show some outward sign that what happened a moment ago concerned her.

Taking her hand- surprising Hinata yet again since she couldn't remember the last time Neji accepted help from anyone let alone from her- Neji held onto the mitten covered fingers for a split second longer than he should have.

Still, Hinata didn't say anything, nor draw attention to Neji's lingering grasp.

He wanted her to notice though, wanted Hinata to recognize even with just a look that she was bothered by this change. If his actions made her feel uncomfortable, then Neji could assure himself that nothing would come of this infatuation.

So in an effort to make Hinata push him away- and to push away thoughts of any sort of affection between them- Neji leaned in and whispered in Hinata's ear.

"Thank you Hinata-sama."

As he pulled away, Hinata could feel her face burning with a heated blush to the point that her ears tingled with warmth.

"Um…you're welcome Neji…" Hinata said, purposefully leaving off the niisan since Neji seemed almost 'pleased' that she had forgotten to add the suffix earlier.

After hearing Hinata call his name, and only his name, Neji realized his efforts to prevent himself from falling was too little of an effort performed too late.

A part of him wanted to simply give in and fall without putting up a fight; yet another- and more practical side- argued that nothing more than friendship could form between them.

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Pale eyes looked on as Hinata and Neji, both covered in melting snow, walk away from the pond and gardens. The two are silent, or at least Hanabi couldn't see their lips moving; but it could be because the darkness of twilight was making it too difficult for her to properly see.

Once Neji and Hinata arrived split pathways, one heading towards the Main House, the other directed toward the Branch House.

Hanabi watched her and sister exchange looks, yet still said nothing more significant than good night to one another.

Releasing her Byakugan, Hanabi sighed in heavy frustration. She had been watching Neji and Hinata ever since Neji 'beat' her. The young girl even saw the strange little scene by the pond.

'They are both weird…' Hanabi thought with a with a grumpy frown as she recalled how Neji and Hinata touched each other's face, but didn't do much else.

But after a moment, Hanabi's lips split into an impish grin.

Lying back in her bed, Hanabi mused aloud to herself, "Since Neji and Hinata are both strange…maybe they would be happier if they could be strange together."

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Notes: Sorry if this piece came of as being a bit…awkward and OOC, it's been almost a full year since I've written anything NejiHina- which is sad actually since NejiHina was my first Naruto OTP!- Anyway, again sorry that it's late and I hope you enjoyed reading this silly little piece. Later!


	2. January, NejiHina continued

**Title:** The Protector  
**Author:** gracemis  
**Rating:** G ( K )  
**Challenge:** A New Beginning  
**Pairing:** NejiHina

**Tied for 1st Place!! **

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

Hinata's birthday had past and everyone in the Hyuuga compound was still in a daze. Her eighteenth birthday was supposed to mark her coming of age. According to tradition, Hinata would begin her duties as heir and chief advisor to her father, the current leader of the Hyuuga clan. It was an effective method of training and insured that in the event of the death of the current clan leader, the heir was ready to step in immediately. It required her to suspend her work as an active kunoichi.

That was the tradition.

Instead, Hinata had stood up in her formal kimono and spoke with quiet certainty. She announced her intention to continue her role as an active kunoichi and declared that Neji would act as her proxy. She remained heir, but in name only.

No one was more surprised then Hyuuga Neji.

Though Hyuuga Hiashi was a close second.

The clan leader was shocked and it showed clearly on his face. His simple directive to Hinata to follow him to his office was full of tension and but surprisingly devoid of anger. Neji could practically hear the wheels turning and as the collective minds of the Hyuuga clan whirled in confusion.

They all knew that Neji was a fine choice as a proxy heir. It was not uncommon for a proxy to be appointed when the heir was assigned a dangerous mission or was away for an extended period of time for clan business. It ensured the line of succession.

However a proxy was never used during the training period. Initial training required the full attention of the heir and they were required to stay in the village for months at a time with little time for activities outside the clan.

In Neji's case, it required the jonin to effectively retire to serve as a proxy heir without any hope of actually becoming heir.

Some considered it an act of cruelty.

Some considered it an act of love.

Neji would be Hinata's stand in. It didn't take a genius to figure out why Hinata had done it. Though some of the idiots in the Hyuuga clan thought it was some kind of twisted revenge on Neji to take away his career. To take away the biggest thing he had outside of the clan. But they were idiots. It was not in Hinata's nature to act vindictively.

No, Hinata was kindness and compassion personified. She was being ridiculously overprotective of her older, more experience and more skillful cousin.

So Neji found her. She sat quietly in the cold courtyard. Her formal kimono was untidy and bunched up unceremoniously under her legs. She held a dark navy blanket over her shoulders as a make shift coat. It must have been a difficult discussion with her father. She had walked out of the building without stopping to get her coat.

"You could get killed just as easily as I could." Neji accused her softly.

Hinata nodded in agreement. "P-probably more easily. I'm less skilled then you."

Some of Neji's anger leached away at this simple admission. Hinata-sama was still Hinata-sama, despite her recent actions.

"B-but Neji-nisan. I don't take A-ranked and S-ranked missions at every opportunity." Hinata added quietly.

This surprised Neji. "Someone has to take them." Neji responded defensively.

"But not always you!" Hinata said more loudly then she intended. She gasped as she covered her mouth and looked away.

A few moments of silence passed and Neji decided to sit down next to the heiress. She would explain her reasons soon enough. He just had to wait.

The minutes stretched out between the cousins. Hinata shivered into the blanket.

A servant came and set down tea for the two cousins.

Neji sipped his tea and warmed his hands on the hot cup.

Finally, Hinata looked at him. "Ni-san, it's not your fault Gai-sensei was hurt."

"Perhaps." Neji responded calmly. Inside his gut twisted into a knot and tension filled his body as he remembered half dragging half carrying his sensei away from the battle zone.

"Regardless, it is my duty to lead Team Gai while Sensei is recovering." Neji said with conviction. The conviction of Hyuuga Neji held weight and was not easily swayed.

Hinata reached out and put her hand over his. "Gai-sensei doesn't want you to die for him or for the village. You can protect the village better if you smart about the risks you assume."

Neji thought for a moment. He sighed. "And because of this you have trapped me here. A bird in a gilded cage again?"

Hinata recoiled as if struck.

"N-no! Of course not." Hinata protested. "It is not indefinitely. You only have to be my proxy for a few months. P-please do not be angry."

Neji looked at her skeptically.

"Gai-sensei will be able to fully resume his duties by then." She explained.

Neji's expression softened.

"You-you can still train with him while he recovers as long as you are in the village as my proxy." She went on.

Neji said nothing as he let her words sink in. She was forcing him to take a break from his duties as team leader for Team Gai. She was so worried about him, that she defied her father, defied the clan traditions and risked his own not inconsiderable wrath. All to protect him from himself.

They sat quietly together breathing the cold winter air. Some where in between the visible puffs of air Neji accepted his new role. A proxy heir with a proxy protector.

He smiled a small smile as his cousin. She returned his smile with a bright face full of relief.

It wasn't so bad to have a protector.


	3. February, GaaHina

**February 2008**

**Title: **Bittersweet Hot Chocolate  
**Author:** Ms Videl Son  
**Rating:** G ( K )  
**Challenge:** Chocolate Kisses  
**Pairing:** GaaHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

--- --- ---

**Part One:** First Impressions

The silence between them was more than awkward; it was positively _painful_. As the heiress of the Hyuuga Group, Hinata knew it was her duty to entertain her father's business friend's offspring, but few of them were as intimidating as the first and only son of the Sabaku Company. Every attempt at conversational balm stung, prompting Hinata to simply keep her mouth shut and suffer quietly.

He sat across from his host, brooding over his hot chocolate as if he were contemplating murder. Considering the look that Hinata was on the receiving end of, she hoped it wasn't her.

"Um...," Hinata began, taking another stab at conversation. With any luck, her fire-haired companion would decline to literally puncture her in response. "H-How was your trip?"

Sabaku Gaara kept his consistent glare fixated on her face from his side of the small coffeehouse table, but didn't answer.

Ouch.

The latest attempt braved, Hinata sunk back into the disturbing silence and diverted her gaze to the contents of her ceramic mug.

The Hyuuga Group heiress wasn't even sure why Gaara had agreed to an outing with her in the first place. Their fathers happened to be "friendly" in an economic sense, but there was hardly any pressure for him to pretend to like her. If anything, the distance between their homes promoted an acquaintance relationship only; when two people weren't forced to socialize often, Hinata was taught, it was simpler to exchange formalities only. Besides, it wasn't as if he seemed to particularly enjoy her company or conversation, so what was the point of it all?

Once the suggestion for a teenager-only excursion had been made by her father, however, Gaara had taken him up on the offer in a short, brash fashion. Hiashi, perhaps half-hoping for a special sort of business merger in the near future, had almost smiled at this and immediately called for the car to come and collect the mismatched pair.

The opportunity for polite refusal in the form of not wishing to take up "Sabaku-san's" time had come and gone faster than Hinata could blink. Less than thirty minutes later, she and Gaara were standing in line at a cafe that she had timidly suggested and ordering identical cups of hot chocolate with whipped cream and drizzled chocolate syrup on top.

Since sitting down at a two-person table next to the front window, the only words proffered to her by her stoic company had been, "Don't call me Sabaku-san." At the suggestion that she call him "Gaara-kun" instead, he made no protest so she was left to assume that this was his preferred title.

Other than that, a few topics had been broached by her, but he had neglected (or perhaps simply refused) to respond to any of them.

Men claimed that _women _were difficult to understand, but Hinata found Gaara more than a little confusing. How was she supposed to understand any of his intentions if he never said anything? Most girls, at least, held enough conversation to allow some insight into their psyches.

Hinata held her mug betwixt her sleeve-insulated palms, watching the chocolate-striped whipped cream melt into her steaming drink. As the last floes of sweet fluff were absorbed into the ocean of hot chocolate, she felt her inclination to even try stimulating conversation likewise dissolving. Gaara obviously didn't want to talk and Hinata didn't have the nerve to force him.

Raising the mug to her lips with both hands, Hinata blew the steam away with her breath before taking a tentative sip.

"Are you seeing anyone?"

The Hyuuga heiress sputtered into her hot chocolate, startled by the sudden interjection into her thoughts by the deep, soft timbre of Gaara's voice. In doing so, she accidentally inhaled a few droplets of her drink which lodged themselves in her windpipe.

Hinata set down her mug to better cough into her fist. Between gasps for air, she offered a consolidated answer; "Wh-What?"

Gaara, expression unchanged, repeated himself. "Are you seeing anyone?"

"N – ," cough, cough. "N-No."

"I'm not either," Gaara informed her, folding his arms across his chest.

He turned his head and began watching the light snowfall outside, ending the brief conversation as bafflingly as he had begun it. Fascinated as he seemed to be by the frozen flakes of lace, he didn't look her way again.

Staring at Gaara over the arm she held against her mouth, Hinata declared to herself that she simply didn't understand him.

— — —

**Author's Notes:** Part One of Two; continue on to the next chapter for Gaara's POV.

Btw, as far as I know, Gaara doesn't actually have a surname in the series, so I simply went with "Sabaku." ("Sabaku no Gaara" = Gaara of the Dessert/Sand Waterfall)

Un-beta'd.

_**. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) .**_


	4. February, GaaHina continued

**February 2008**

**Title: **Bittersweet Hot Chocolate  
**Author:** Ms Videl Son  
**Rating:** G ( K )  
**Challenge:** Chocolate Kisses  
**Pairing:** GaaHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

--- --- ---

**Part Two: **Second That Motion

While the silence at the coffee shop had been amicable and pleasant, Gaara felt that the lack of conversation that stretched the entire length of their limo was exactly the opposite. Whether or not she was disappointed about ending their first date so early wasn't for him to say, but he certainly suspected that something was amiss.

The physical space between them was more than adequate for comfortable arrangement with Hinata pressed up against the door to her right and Gaara more than five feet away to her left, sitting along the side. More than anyone, the Sabaku heir respected an individual's personal space, but he felt that the distance that separated them was a bit extreme. Weren't dates supposed to be all "cuddly," or something like that?

Perhaps he had been a little too talkative at the coffeehouse, but Gaara understood from multiple forms of media that conversation was an important factor in the success or failure of a romantic outing. Had he said too much? Hinata certainly seemed offended about something...she hadn't even responded directly to his offer of a second date. Their rendevous had been going so well, too.

Not that he put too much stock in stereotypes, but the one about women being impossible for men to comprehend seemed to have at least a little grounding in reality. Were they really worth all the effort?

Slyly rotating his eyes towards her, Gaara fixed his gaze on Hinata. She was staring out her window at the snow adhering to the urban landscape with a puzzled expression on her face. She was wringing her hands in her skirt and chewing on her bottom lip, acting as a tense contrast to the peaceful weather outside.

Even in all her confusion, Gaara still found her exceptionally pretty. Not the loud, obnoxious kind of pretty that assaulted your senses with flamboyancy, but a clean, simple attractiveness that was worth a closer look. There was nothing artificial about her, either; she didn't appear to be wearing any makeup, her hair was its natural length and color and there were no other...enhancements on her figure that he could clearly see. (Her clothes were slightly baggy, of course, but what girl that went under the knife for "improvements" hid the results?)

No, there was nothing physically intimidating about Hyuuga Hinata. She was what she was and he, for one, found that very appealing in a female.

Despite her tendency to befuddle and disorient him with her womanly wiles, Gaara considered her well worth a bit of trouble.

Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Gaara called Hinata's attention to him. "Are you playing hard to get?"

Hinata jumped as if he'd frightened her and turned to face him from her seat. "Wh-what?"

Straightening his back against the plush leather beneath him, Gaara repeated himself (again; did she have some sort of hearing problem?). "_Are you playing hard to get_?"

Hinata shook her lovely head from side to side, sending her loose hair swirling around her head and shoulders. "Wh-what do you m-mean, Gaara-kun?"

"I asked you out for a second date," he replied. "You didn't give me an answer."

Her pale lavender eyes, so unique to her family, widened to excessive proportions. Gaara was certain that she was going to hurt herself if she didn't relax a little.

"S-Second d-d-_date_?"

Gaara didn't dignify her incredulity with a response; saying everything twice was getting tiresome.

"Wh-when did we have a f-first d-date?" she asked, flushing a shade of red that perfectly complimented his hair.

Gaara forked an eyebrow in her direction. "Just now."

Hinata's hands were so intertwined with her skirt that he could hardly see them within the lump of fabric. However, her thighs were _perfectly _exposed and Gaara couldn't help but sneak a little glimpse. Her panties were, surprisingly, orange.

Following his gaze, Hinata looked down. The red in her face changed from a bright strawberry color to a darker hue reminiscent of a pomegranate as she quickly covered herself.

She was breathing heavily, perhaps from the exertion of embarrassment, but managed to further their original dialogue as if nothing had happened. "Th-that wasn't a d-date."

"Yes, it was," Gaara disagreed. What had she thought they were doing? Making friends?

"B-but – "

"When are we going out again?" he asked, steering the conversation in the proper direction. Without bothering to wait for a response this time, he continued on; "I leave for Suna on Sunday. Is Friday afternoon good for you?"

The limo slowed to a gentle stop in front of the Hyuuga mansion. The stylish architecture of the main house was visible through the window to Hinata's right, darkened by the tinted glass.

"W-Well – "

Gaara moved from his spot and seated himself next to Hinata, hoping to make the situation a little more comfortable for her. He draped his arm over the back of the seat as he'd seen done in more than one film and placed his free hand over one of hers as he leaned towards her. "I'll pick you up from your school at four-thirty."

Staring at their conjoined hands with the same wide-eyed, red-faced look she had been consistently sporting, Hinata replied, "O-Okay."

The door magically opened (with a bit of help from the chauffeur) next to Hinata and she immediately took her exit opportunity. She pulled her hand out from under his, extricated her shoulders from the loose hold of his arm and scrambled out of the car in flustered panic.

Well, that was settled.

— — —

**Authors Notes:** I really hope that I didn't completely bastardize Gaara's personality. I've never written him before (he hasn't even made an appearance as a minor/supporting character in any of my older fics), so I can only claim to have done my best. Here's hoping that's good enough.

Vote for me!

_**. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) . **_


	5. March, SasuHinaShika

**March 2008**

**Title: **Picture Imperfect**  
Author:** BlueQuarzFoxy**  
Rating:** PG-13 ( T )**  
Challenge:** Triangulation**  
Pairing:** SasuHinaShika

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

--- --- ---

**Part One**

Camera lights flashed, producing blinding white light going off, on, off, then on again as the photographer flittered from one end of the set to the other to get the best angles, lighting, and poses from the models as possible.

Pale lavender eyes stared up at the 'devil' looming above her. His eyes smoldering obsidian color, the gaze seemingly piercing right through her in a sexually charged, yet at the same time looking frighteningly predatory. Despite telling herself over and over again not to be scared, Hinata couldn't help but flinch at the looks her modeling partner was given her.

'He looks more like he's going to eat me than make love to me…' Hinata thought while at the same time trying to give the best sultry- yet scared- look she could muster up.

A few more flashes came and went before the disgruntled photographer pulled back.

"Sasuke, back down a little, Hinata-chan is starting to look more scared than turned on what with you hovering over her like a vampire bat."

'Thank you so much…' Hinata mentally added to what the photographer said.

Annoyed by the scolding, Sasuke turned his eyes away from Hinata and twisted his body forward to face the photographer.

"And who are you to bark orders at me? You told me, be sexy yet predatory."

Another heavy sigh escaped the photographer, "Look, you can still pull that off without looking so menacing. Hinata, take a break for five minutes. We'll do some more test shots for Sasuke."

"Alright, Shikamaru-kun," the female model replied, grateful to be out from underneath Sasuke.

Sasuke however was less than pleased, "So, both of us ruin a shot; yet she gets to wander off and take a water break?"

"Sasuke…just shut up and take the test shots. We need to have your part down, otherwise there's no point bringing Hinata into the frame. If you don't look right, then Hinata will look out place in the photo."

"Fine…" Sasuke replied between clinched teeth, "I'll do it."

"Good for you." Shikamaru countered sarcastically.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm taking a short break too."

Dark eyes widened for a moment and glared at the photographer, "If you're leaving then who is going to take my test shots?"

"One of my assistances can handle it, so try not to cause them any more trouble than you're already worth." Shikamaru said as he walked out the studio, heading towards the break room.

Sasuke's fingers curled tightly into clenched fists.

'Sure he gets to go frolic off with Hinata, while I'm stuck here doing extra work!' Sasuke thought bitterly, resolving himself to finish up the test shoots quickly so Hinata could come back and get right to work.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cool water touched her lips, pale eyes looking around the empty break room, noticing the changes, namely the snack and soda machines were done away with.

'A lot of people are not going to be happy about that.' Hinata thought as she took another sip out of her water bottle.

One such person happed to walk into the room. First he breezed past the empty spaces left in the wall, blinked, turned his head and backpedaled to stare at where the coffee dispenser once stood.

"Um…it's not there anymore…" Hinata offered politely.

"I can see that. What I'm wondering is why?" Shikamaru returned.

Hinata shrugged, "Some of the girls started complaining about the coffee machine. They said coffee has caffeine and calories."

"Yeah…so?" Shikamaru asked, honestly wondering what calories had to do with the coffee machine being MIA.

"Well um…the girls said they didn't want to be tempted by having the coffee machine in the break room. The said coffee ruins their complexion and figure…so…they petitioned Tsunade-san to remove the machine."

Hinata waited in silence for a moment, gauging Shikamaru for his reaction. Predictably he smirked.

"And the insanity continues," the young photographer muttered bitterly as he fished out some coins, slid them through the water/juice machine and punched a button.

"Next thing you know, they'll set up machines that despise carrot and celery sticks. Wait, that wouldn't work either. Having carrots and celery around might tempt a few of the girls to actually eat something, and we can't allow that to happen."

Hinata tried not to giggle or even smile, Shikamaru after all was making the corrosive comments against her co-workers and their profession of modeling.

Still, Hinata had to admit to herself that taking out the coffee, soda, and snack machines was taking it a tad bit too far since other people- not just models- worked at Konoha Studios.

"They are carrying things a bit too far…" Hinata finally said aloud as Shikamaru grabbed his juice can and sat down next to her on the bench.

"You've got that right. Models have a problem with realizing that the world doesn't revolve around them."

A small displeased frown formed along the corner's of Hinata's mouth, "Not all models are like that…"

"Sorry, sorry. I meant all models, present company excluded." Shikamaru corrected himself, popping the tab to his drink and downing at least a third of it before making a face.

"Too sweet…bleck."

"Try the apple juice instead of the grape next time." Hinata suggested, taking another taste of water.

Shikamaru nodded once, holding the can in one hand, the other resting on his knee.

For a brief moment, the two just relaxed and enjoyed the silence and lack of hustle-bustle of the photography studio.

Finally, Shikamaru spoke up, "Sorry about today."

"Hm?" Hinata questioned, her lips curled around the mouth of the water bottle.

"Sasuke. He's giving you a tough time today. So, I'll try to do my best to rein him in."

Lowering the water bottle, Hinata sheepishly waved her hands around.

"Uh…you…you really don't have to do that Shikamaru-kun! I can handle Sasuke-san….what?" Hinata asked suddenly when she saw the puzzled look Shikamaru gave her.

"You call him 'Sasuke-san?'"

Hinata nodded slowly, not sure as to what she called Sasuke had to do with anything.

Shikamaru smirked a little, "That's good. I was afraid you were becoming like all the other girls who follow Sasuke around yelling 'Sasuke-kun!' all the time."

Hinata frowned again, this time hurt that her friend thought of her to be a 'Sasuke groupie'.

"I get along with Sasuke well enough in our shared photo shoots; but I really don't think much about him otherwise."

"Again," Shikamaru paused to drain the last of his juice, tossing the empty can into a trash bin, "it's a good thing you're not obsessed with him. Makes you more focused on your work than rather who you're working with."

Hinata moved the water bottle to her lips, yet stopped from taking a drink.

"Sometimes…I really don't understand what they see in Sasuke-san anyway. He's so…so…"

"Ass-holey?" Shikamaru offered, much to Hinata's amused horror.

"N-no! That wasn't what I wanted to say at all, Shikamaru-kun!"

"Maybe not," the young man mused, lightly scratching the light stubble along his cheek, "But, be honest you were thinking it…or at least something like it."

Pink-painted lips pursed, "Maybe…Sasuke-san does have a…tendency to be a bit cold and stand-offish. But, I'm sure deep down he's a good person who just has difficulty connecting with other people."

A heavy sigh escaped Shikamaru, his hand reaching over to ruffle Hinata's long indigo hair, "You're too kind for your own good, sometimes."

"Ah. There is no such thing. Shikamaru let go of my head, you're going to mess up my hair!" Hinata protested, trying to swat Shikamaru away.

"It looks too styled. You and Sasuke are supposed to be in bed together so it needs to look rough and slept in."

"Quit it! My head is starting to hurt…" Hinata complained as she kept playfully pushing Shikamaru back.

"It's nice to see you two having fun when we're supposed to be working…" a voice started up, the tone dripping with sarcasm.

Both Shikamaru and Hinata turned, Shikamaru's hands still caught in Hinata's long hair, stared at the entryway like two sheepish teens caught doing something they shouldn't be doing.

Sasuke's gaze narrowed at the scene before him.

"I've finished my test shots."

"Good…" Shikamaru said his voice cracking a little so he cleared his throat, "we can get back to work then."

Sasuke leaned up against the doorframe, "No, we don't have to work. Honestly I could stand here and watch you two go on all day long, so please continue."

Hinata sank into herself, shoulders slumped low, her gaze averted to look away.

Noticing the abrupt change in Hinata's behavior, Shikamaru rose up from the bench approaching Sasuke.

"Cut out the sarcasm and I might consider finish this photo shoot."

Sasuke glared in response, "You don't scare me. If Tsunade-san fires us for not completing one campaign, she'll have to fire you too."

In order to cut the tension and to keep Shikamaru from following through with his promise- and end up harming his career in the process- Hinata stood up.

"Um…Sasuke-san, I'm ready to go back to the photo shoot now," she bowed for a moment, "Sorry for making you wait."

Sasuke gave this grimace-smirk hybrid. It almost looked like a smile; but the person giving the expression just wasn't quite committed enough to the curve of his mouth to make it so.

"See, Nara. That's an example of a devoted employee of Konoha. You should follow her example." Sasuke said in smug tone.

Hinata couldn't quite pin-point what was going on around her, but lately it seemed Sasuke and Shikamaru kept arguing, competing, and…keeping score of something which was unknown to her.

A small shiver rolled down the young woman's spine. She didn't like all this tension and wanted to get back to work just so she could avoid having to think on how vicious both men acted to one another.

Hinata found that she couldn't leave quite as quickly as she'd like since both Shikamaru and Sasuke were staring each other down, blocking the doorway.

The staring contest lasted for about five seconds before Sasuke moved back to allow Hinata to squeeze past.

"Ladies first."

Flustered, but at the same time glad to get out of the room, Hinata squeaked past Sasuke and out into the hallway.

'I just hope they don't hurt each other…' Hinata thought as she quickly walked down the hall, heading back to the studio.

— — —

**Notes:** Sorry this part seems kind of rushed/abrupt. I'll out of town next week so I need to crank out this part and the second part before the deadline. Thank you for reading! And don't worry I should have the second part up sometime either tonight or tomorrow evening.


	6. March, SasuHinaShika continued

**March 2008  
**

**Title:** Picture Imperfect**  
Author:** BlueQuarzFoxy**  
Rating:** PG-13 ( T )**  
Challenge:** Triangulation**  
Pairing: **SasuHinaShika

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

--- --- ---

**Part Two**

Dark brown and almost black appearing gazes clashed. Since Hinata had left them to move on to the studio, now would have been the perfect time for a brawl; but Sasuke prided himself on being a gentleman and Shikamaru…just didn't feel energetic enough to start swinging punches; so for now the glares would have to do.

However words could be used as well…

"What is your problem today, Sasuke?"

"What's yours?"

"I asked you first."

"And I refuse to answer unless you answer me first."

Brown eyes rolled, followed by Shikamaru smacking himself in the forehead, 'We sound like two PMSing girls…'

The argument lapsed into silence; both men gauging their foil for reactions and weak points to take advantage over the other.

"I've known her since we were kids." Shikamaru offered up, the smug look on his face showing he viewed experience and knowledge of Hinata would win over male prettiness.

"Yes, but you've been gone out of her life for…how many years now?" Sasuke countered, a smug look of his own to match Shikamaru's, "Besides, we work very close together. All you do is bark orders and snap pretty pictures."

Shikamaru snorted in response, "You two may work closely together, but Hinata looks more afraid of you than interested."

Sasuke's gaze narrowed into dagger-sharp glares, "At least I'm not the one who's known her for years and is just now making his move."

Shikamaru shrugged, "I've been biding my time."

"No, you thought that since I was interested in her, moving in on Hinata now would be easy since she's so oblivious otherwise…"

"Ah, so now you'll admit that your intimidation tactics aren't working on her."

Sasuke clenched his fists and teeth, attempting to cool down.

Taking the place of Sasuke's retort, Shikamaru pushed the Uchiha out of his way of passing through the doorway, "Other girls might like being half-scared of you; but Hinata has more sense than to be with some guy who treats her like trash…or prey."

Sasuke stood stone silent as Shikamaru moved to walk back to the studio.

He was seething mad. For months, he had been working on getting this close to Hinata; only to be pushed all the way back to the starting point with the arrival of this new photographer who had a history with the young female model.

'I won't lose.' Sasuke determined.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hands in his pants pockets, Shikamaru had to admit he felt better after putting Sasuke in his place. Hinata and Sasuke might work together and yes there was a small six year gap where he and Hinata were on opposite ends of the country, but coming back to work with Konoha Studio, his and Hinata's friendship was more than intact.

If anything, it was like he had never left. They could still talk, goof off together, and be open with each other; their relationship was exactly the way it was years ago.

And Hinata had always been the perfect fit for Shikamaru's ideal of a wife. She was nice, mostly quiet- he only heard Hinata raise her voice twice in the whole seventeen years he'd known her. And the girl had a level head on her shoulders despite working in a materialistic and unrealistic profession.

So with Sasuke momentarily out of the running; Shikamaru felt he had a fairly good chance to start the pursuit, a perfect plan: Knock the opponent off balance- preferably over a cliff- then while the enemy is distracted, slowly move forward to claim the prize.

However, Shikamaru didn't count on one thing…

"Why don't we make a deal instead of fighting all the time?" a voice behind him suggested.

At first, Shikamaru wasn't going to entertain such an idea. He had won this time. Sasuke was just being a sore loser.

"If you win, I'll back off Hinata…for good." Sasuke claimed.

Shikamaru stopped in his tracks. It sounded like a good offer, almost too good in fact.

Despite his initial rejection of the idea, Shikamaru found himself turning around to give Sasuke at least a fourth of his full attention.

"What do you have in mind?" Shikamaru questioned, knowing if this deal sounded the least bit favorable to Sasuke, he knew to shut it down and refuse to agree no matter how tempting the reward portion of the bargain sounded.

Sasuke's smirk returned, slowly regaining his formerly shaken confidence.

"It's very simple. Whoever can kiss Hinata in two days wins. The winner can keep going after her, but the loser has to promise to back down."

"That sounds…stupid." Shikamaru replied shortly, moving to turn around.

"You're only calling it 'stupid' because you know that I'll win." Sasuke returned.

Shikamaru stopped dead in his tracks.

It was a challenge, actually more like a childish taunt. But, for being a low-key and laid back kind of person, Shikamaru just couldn't say 'no' to a challenge of any sort. He had a competitive steak within him that wouldn't allow him to leave Sasuke's taunt alone.

"What I meant to say is that, it's stupid because it is so unfair against you." Shikamaru said with a grin, "Hinata and I have kissed each other a lot."

"Kissing each other on the cheek as kids hardly counts as an actual 'kiss', Shikamaru." Sasuke countered smugly.

Shikamaru's face paled slightly, "W-who told you about that?"

Sasuke chuckled once. His good mood increasing as he kept pushing Shikamaru into a corner.

"Hinata's rather talkative after a few drinks. I heard a lot of other interesting stories about yours and her childhood; but that sticks out the most since Hinata found it funny that you were always the one to kiss her, even though always claimed to hate 'playing house' with her."

'Mental note: keep Hinata away from all things alcohol from now on.' Shikamaru reminded himself.

"So," Sasuke offered his right hand, "do we have a deal?" he asked.

Shikamaru started at the proffered hand almost like it was diseased.

"Sure, but I have one condition."

Sasuke's right eyebrow rose up, "And?"

"The kiss has to be consensual. Hinata has to agree with the kiss. No sneaking, stealing, or tricking her."

Sasuke grimaced, "What kind of guy do you take me for?"

"The kind that will do anything to win." Shikamaru replied as she finally shook hands with Sasuke.

"But you should take that as a compliment, since I'm the same type of person."

Sasuke snorted, "If that's the case, then I'd rather play dirty than be compared to you."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hinata waited, waited, and waited for Sasuke and Shikamaru to come back to the studio. Sitting on the edge of the prop bed, the young woman stared down at her bare feet and robe covered body, keeping her gaze away from the studio workers and Shikamaru's assistants.

For being such a shy and reserved person, Hinata believed she had found her niche in modeling. Most of the skinny-down-to-bare-bones-models were losing work since it was decided being unnaturally skinny wasn't healthy and portrayed a bad image; so in order to invoke 'change', Konoha Studios hired her.

Still, because she had more of a bust and a figure than the other girls, Hinata couldn't help but feel self-conscious, especially after having to face the glares the other female models gave her in the changing rooms.

'Look at her. The big fat cow…'

'I heard Tsunade-san only hired her because she threaten to kill herself if they didn't.'

'Sasuke-kun only does each and every photo shot with her, just to be nice. She really is pathetic…'

Closing her eyes tightly, Hinata tried hard not to cry. She felt silly for getting upset over stupid things, such as what people said about her.

Her roommate Sakura had put it plain and simply, 'Those girls are just jealous Hinata.'

'Jealous?' Hinata recalled questioning.

The pink-haired woman nodded, 'Yes, jealous. Because they can see that even though you're a model, you have a 'real' body, while most of them have to have work done just to have a chest they can honestly brag about.'

"That doesn't mean what they say hurts any less…" Hinata said to herself.

"Who said what?" someone asked above her.

Lifting her head, Hinata gasped and end up scooting back onto the bed a little as she saw Sasuke standing over her.

"Um…it…it's nothing really." Hinata excused, trying her best to put on a smile while at the same time pulling the robe covering her body tighter.

At first, it didn't seem that Sasuke believed her. But since they had work to do, Sasuke refrained from making a comment. Instead he pulled his shirt over his head, making the other female models in the back swoon. Hinata too felt a blush coming on, but she wasn't looking at Sasuke's chest, instead she was more embarrassed that her modeling partner had overheard her.

'I need to be more careful…' Hinata thought as she moved to rest against the bed.

'I can't trust anyone here unless it's Shikamaru. Everyone else would have a lot to gain if they really knew about me.'

And Hinata's thoughts weren't just paranoia. The female models, jealous of her constant photo assignments with Sasuke, had made it clear to Hinata that she was not welcomed into their little group. And some of the other male models were backing the girls since a lot had refused to sign onto photo shoots she had done.

Only Sasuke still seemed to want to work with her, which only made the other girls more annoyed with her.

'I have to be careful.' Hinata thought.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked, his masculine frame leaning over her.

"Y-yes…" Hinata replied only to flinch a second later as she felt fingertips brush along her cheek.

"You're crying…or you were." Sasuke said.

Hinata felt her throat constrict. Now not only was she embarrassed, but scared. If those other girls had seen her cry…

"P-please don't tell anyone…about that." Hinata requested of her photo partner.

Sasuke looked puzzled, "Who would I tell and why?"

Hinata bit her bottom lip, her gaze unconsciously floating over to the group of female models.

Sasuke followed her stare and caught on quickly.

'Psycho stalkers…Hinata hasn't done anything to them.' Sasuke thought.

"I'll talk to them later today…"

"No!" Hinata first protested, yet reeled back when she realized how loud her voice came out, "I mean…please don't talk to them. If they knew…that I knew and I told you it will only make things worse."

Sasuke watched Hinata's gaze turn away from him, instead she focused on some place located on the prop they were kneeling on.

'Idiots. They're all a bunch of losers,' Sasuke thought to himself.

He hated his fan girls, more so since they were making work miserable for Hinata.

It was a rather prickly situation though. He could tell the other girls to back off Hinata, but Sasuke had a feeling- what with the models persistence and the way Hinata refused to look the other females in the eye- that if he said something, the girls would only bring Hinata more grief.

'I suppose there is only one way to get it through those girl's heads…' Sasuke mused.

Yet before he could propose anything to Hinata; Shikamaru came back camera ready and already directed them as to how to pose and lean 'away' from the light to cast bigger shadows rather than lean into the spotlights.

Hinata felt her face start to become warm with a blush as dark eyes stared intensely at her. Thankfully, whatever test shots Sasuke did before had worked out whatever made him glare at her like a frightening monster.

Though Hinata wished the touching would stop. She shivered first at feeling long fingertips smoothly slide up the side of her neck.

Then Hinata pressed her lips together after feeling Sasuke touch his index finger to them.

"W-what are you doing?!" she asked becoming increasingly flustered.

"You want the other models to leave you alone?" Sasuke inquired in return.

Hinata didn't even have to glance over to the gaggle of females gathered in the back of the studio to tell this wouldn't end well.

"Do you?" he asked again.

This time Hinata nodded, affirming her response, "B-but…" she cut off in mid-sentence, unable to end think of what she might have to look forward too after work should this go on.

"Then follow my lead." Sasuke assured as he leaned in closer to her.

"But…I…I…"

"Cut!"

Both Sasuke and Hinata glanced up from the prop bed.

"We're done…already?"

'Thank god,' Hinata thought, honestly unable to stand her increasingly award position with Sasuke any longer. She needed to escape, get changed, and get the hell out of Konoha Studio before anyone could corner.

Shikamaru was already placing the camera equipment up as the two models moved to leave the set, "We took the first two hundred shots earlier and just finished the last fifty a minute ago; so we're done for the day."

Sasuke gave the photographer an uneasy look. Weren't they supposed to do three hundred shots instead of just two hundred and fifty?

Hinata however shrugged the discrepancy off. To her getting out of the studio and into some modest clothes were top priority; so she left almost as soon as Shikamaru said they were done.

Pulling on her changing robe, Hinata quickly padded over to the changing rooms. She first took to locking the door with a company issued key then searched for her bag of street clothes.

"Looking for these?" someone behind her asked in a sickly sweet tone.

Hinata didn't want to turn around and see who had her clothes, but it couldn't be helped.

She turned in time to see the 'girls', namely the redheaded ringleader known as Karin, holding her duffle bag hostage.

"G-give them back…" Hinata first said.

"Hm? What, speak up little mouse. I can't hear you." Karin taunted, leaning in close towards Hinata.

Closing her eyes and attempting to take a deep breath- actually breathing all together was becoming a difficult task- Hinata asked again.

"Please…give me back my clothes, K-Karin-san."

"Oh?" the redhead asked, fixing a pair of small framed glasses further up her nose, "You mean these rags?" she returned over turning the unzipped duffle bag and tossing out the tatters and shredded up bits of Hinata's clothes.

Horrified, Hinata could only stand on trembling legs as Karin and the other girls started laughing at her.

"Looks like Hinata-chan will just have to walk around naked…like the tramp she is!" Karin said with a loud laugh.

Humiliated, Hinata backed up into a wall, her entire body trembling . She couldn't think of anything to say…or no. She hated confronting anyone…about anything.

'I can't. I can't…I can't…' Hinata thought to herself, closing her eyes tight to shield out tears.

"Hey! What's going on in here?"

"Sasuke-kun?" one girl exclaimed, making Hinata cringe yet again.

He was the very last person Hinata wanted to witness this.

'Please just go away…' Hinata thought to herself as if her wishes would make Sasuke suddenly vanish out of the room.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasuke stepped into the dressing room, the fan girls scattering backwards and clearing a path as he shoved and pushed them back to Hinata.

He looked at the shreds of cloth and denim at the woman's feet, her empty bag, and then to the girls over his shoulder.

"Get out."

"I…but Sasuke-kun…we were just…"

"I said get out!"

The girls, Karin included, reeled back in shock. Sasuke-kun…their beloved dark-haired God, Sasuke-kun…had…had yelled at them!

It was unthinkable!

"Are all of you deaf? Get out of here!" Sasuke repeated for a third time, this time wheeling to look at the girls so quick, they all scattered away in fright.

Hinata started to shake, honestly unsure what to think or believe.

'Sasuke-san helped me. But why?' Hinata asked herself.

Rarely, if ever, did Sasuke put himself out for anyone.

"Well…" Sasuke said as he lightly kicked what remained of Hinata's cream-colored blouse and denim skirt, "you obviously can't wear these. And you can't go outside looking like that."

Hinata felt her cheeks flush from the way Sasuke looked at the very thin dressing robe she was wearing.

'Pull yourself together, he's seen you in much less than this.' Hinata thought to herself as she attempted to breathe out.

"Um…obviously…" Hinata repeated, her gaze falling to the floor.

For a moment both models stood around awkwardly, trying to puzzle out their, or rather Hinata's, situation.

Then a solution came to Sasuke after his gaze fell on the racks of unworn clothing the female models wore.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"These are…wonderful." a woman with long pig-tailed blonde hair and big breasts said, complimented her new photographer's latest shot with her best models.

Shikamaru didn't offer to take full credit for the shoot however.

"Hinata did great today. I hardly had any trouble with her."

Tsunade nodded, "I see, I see. But, every time you come in here Nara-kun, you're always praising Hinata. Her talents, beauty, attritibtes, and so on and so forth," she said with a blasé wave of her right hand.

Hazel eyes cut a small glare at the young man sitting across from her, "But, you seems to be overly critical of your last subjects. Such as, you never have anything positive to say about Sasuke."

Tsuande noticed the slight tightness along Shikamaru's jaw line.

'Jealousy, perhaps?' she thought, knowing the signs well what with dealing and putting up with men all her life.

"Sasuke is…difficult to work with." Shikamaru finally managed to say, "He'll do the job, but only on his terms and usually he's telling me how I should do my job."

Tsunade snorted as she reorganized the photos and filed them away to be mailed off to their overseas client.

"See, there you go again. You have nothing positive to say, and when you do, you're sure to counterweight it…no rather you overwhelm the positive with your negative comments."

Shikamaru looked over at his employer. Most men would have fallen dead on their feet looking at the woman who appeared to be thirty-something- but was actually going on fifty-one years-; he however wasn't moved by it at all.

Buxom blonde-haired women just weren't his thing, so Tsunade knew she couldn't charm Shikamaru into being cooperative by turning on the sexy boss-bombshell. Instead she had to practice a smidgen of tough love.

"Asuma-kun recommended you highly to take his place. But," Tsunade paused long enough to give Shikamaru a level stare.

"I'm starting to wonder if you're here for…other things."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by other things?"

Tsunade folded hands in front of her, paused again, and then caved in enough to open the drawers of her filing cabinet.

Pulling out Shikamaru's portfolio, she flipped it open and laid out his earliest pictures in front of them both.

"Before you came to us. The only photographs you had in this file were all mountain ranges, deer and other wildlife, fields, old temple ruins. Fairly mediocre and boring. In fact, I only hired you because Asuma said he'd starve himself to death in protest."

Shikamaru currently felt like strangling his former mentor, 'I wasn't that desperate to get hired at this place he'd have to starve himself in protest!'

"Yet when you came aboard as Asuma's assistant…" Tsuande continued flipping a few pages towards the middle, the first picture to appear was a black-white of Hinata, the only coloring being the purple lipstick on her mouth and the pale lavender coloring of her eyes.

"You didn't film any other models while as Asuma's assistant. And after he leaves to spend more time with his family, you step in, an amateur with no former training save for what Asuma taught you."

"So…" Shikamaru started, honestly wondering where the point to their little boss-to-underling talk was all about.

Becoming increasingly aggravated herself, Tsuande flipped over page, after page, after page, after page.

"Hinata. Hinata. Hinata, again. Hinata…oh look there she is again on this page too." Tsuande said before slamming Shikamaru's career portfolio up.

"You have captured other models on film you know."

Shikamaru nodded in agreement.

"Then why isn't anyone else besides Hinata in your portfolio."

"I…" Shikamaru began to speak up, but the blonde-haired woman cut him off with a look.

"This isn't good Shikamaru. Not for you, your career, and this isn't fair to Hinata either."

Shikamaru felt like he had suddenly been dropped into quick sand. He wasn't allowed to speak up in his own defense and Tsunade did have a point. He really didn't have much experience and mostly had raw talent and Asuma's training in his favor.

Tsunade put the portfolio away, "Are you here to start a career…or do you have some sort of obsession with Hinata-chan?"

Shikamaru gritted his teeth again, and like before Tsuande saw it coming on.

"Before," she said, cutting off Shikamaru again, "you become defensive with me. Just know that you need to take other pictures of other models and add them to your portfolio instead of relying on Hinata."

"Being the focal point of your career and whether or not you can get a job elsewhere or not, should not be Hinata's responsibility. So, take my advice. Add some more pictures to your career portfolio."

"I understand." Shikamaru replied, humbled somewhat by this meeting.

"Good," Tsunade said in response, closing her filing cabinet, "Please take my advice because I don't want us to have this talk again."

Moving to get out of his chair, Shikamaru waited to be dismissed from Tsuande's office, only to stop as a knock on the door resounded from the other side.

Before Tsunade could tell the intruder to come in or go away, the door opened with Sasuke on the other side, Hinata hovering behind him.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well this is a surprise." Tsunade said with a smile, yet her stressed out tone of voice clearly say she did not 'like' surprises; particularly surprises which came five minutes before five.

Sasuke stepped in first, "Tsunade-san, we have a request to make."

"Pst, always so formal," the older woman scolded then looked over to Hinata who still wasn't dressed.

"Hinata-chan? Why are you still in a dressing gown?"

The young woman flushed, her tongue becoming heavy and knotted as the words she wanted to say became stopped up in the back of her mind.

"Hinata forgot her change of clothes from home." Sasuke interrupted.

"Really?" the brown-eyed woman asked, surprised at this. Hinata was hardly a flighty or forgetful young woman.

Shikamaru also seemed rather skeptical at the excuse.

"Um, Tsunade-san…" Hinata started, "is it okay with you if I borrowed some clothes…j-just for tonight. I'll promise to laundry them, dry clean, whatever it takes to keep the clothes clean and…and I'll return it back Monday."

Tsunade, still feeling she was not being told the entire story, considered for a moment.

'Something stinks here. Uchiha and Hyuuga are hiding something from me…' Tsunade thought to herself.

While suspicious, Tsunade also didn't like the idea of having one of her best models going without clothing. It would make the studio look back if they allowed Hinata to go home on public transport wearing nothing by a dressing gown and underwear underneath.

"Fine. Do…whatever you want. Just, get out of my office, all of you." Tsunade finally said, giving her blessing to Hinata to use the clothes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Relieved to have clothes to change into, Hinata wasted no time getting from Tsunade's office to the dressing room.

The men however hung back in the narrow hallway between their boss's office and the changing rooms.

A long lull of silence followed, Shikamaru with hands in his pants pockets and Sasuke having his arms crossed over chest.

Finally…

"You haven't gotten a kiss yet."

"Neither have you."

"Hn…"

"…"

Another bit of silence looped around to return to them, driving yet another stake between the two male co-workers.

"I'm thinking about asking Hinata out tonight."

Sasuke blinked, suddenly thrown off by the sudden statement. No, since it was Shikamaru, the statement was actually a declaration of war.

"And you think she'll go out with someone like you?" Sasuke asked with a short humorless chuckle; because to be honest he didn't find this funny. He knew Hinata would go out with Shikamaru if only as a 'friend'. And that was what Shikamaru was banking on.

'Never mind that I was the one who spared her being humiliated.' Sasuke thought, 'If anything, Hinata should be asking me out to dinner to thank me…not her going out with him.'

-----------------------------

Unaware of the exchange that had taken place between Sasuke and Shikamaru, Hinata stepped out, still pulling down the hem of the short kaki skirt. Normally she did not like wearing skirts, but since the clothes were from a spring fashion line, skirts were 'in', long pants were not.

And she couldn't stop feeling self-conscious as to how the blouse about a size too small keeping showing off her chest, so Hinata tried to sink her shoulders in, hoping bad posture would make her chest look smaller. Sadly, it didn't work.

Still, grateful to have clothes on at all, Hinata smiled slightly only to slow in her walk then outright stop as she saw Shikamaru and Sasuke waiting on either side of the hallway.

The air crackled with tension and Hinata was half-tempted to go back into the dressing room and stay put until the atmosphere quit being so oppressed and heavy.

"Um…y-you didn't have to wait for me." Hinata said, not quite sure as to which man she should have directed her comment to.

"It's fine." both Sasuke and Shikamaru said to each other, stopping to glare at the other.

"W-well um…thank you for waiting for me." Hinata said, again not sure who she should speak to.

Sasuke and Shikamaru still glared at each other, making Hinata feel very uncomfortable, so she slowly backed up a few steps, heading towards the exit.

"I…I…um…goodnight! I'll see you both Monday…I guess. … Bye!" she squeaked out, managing to get out of the studio before something erupted.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tsuande came out her office just in time to watch a scared Hinata stare at the boys then bolt.

Watching the staring contest, Tsuande wasn't sure whether to laugh…or hit someone…or rather two someone's.

"Oi, idiots." the blonde-haired woman spoke up.

Both Sasuke and Shikamaru stopped glaring at each other long enough to look up.

"Look, I honestly don't care if you two like each other; I'm all for equal opportunity, non-discrimatory hiring and all that. But, could you at least have eye-sex with each other AFTER work, so everyone else doesn't have to watch and suffer."

Sasuke and Shikamaru both turned pale, looked to each other, Tsunade-san, the spot where Hinata 'once' stood, then back to their boss.

"We're not gay!" both yelled.

Tsunade slowly nodded, "Sure you're not. I won't tell if you won't, but right now I need a drink…good night gentlemen...or gentleman and lady, whichever..." she finished with a short wave and a cackling giggle.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hearing the exit door slam behind their boss, Shikamaru and Sasuke finally realized their quarry had wandered off somewhere.

"Where could she have gone?"

Shikamaru shrugged in response, "Hinata normally isn't one for going out by herself. And her roommate's out of town. So, I suppose she went straight home."

"Uh-huh…you don't say." Sasuke said whipping out a cell-phone, his fingers already dialing up Hinata's place.

Shikamaru glared then felt his pants pockets, only to realize he had left his phone at home to charge.

'Crap…' Shikamaru thought, ready to kick himself for leaving his cell behind. That is until Sasuke got a busy signal.

"God, who could she be calling right after she gets off work…hey!" Sasuke shouted down the hallway as Shikamaru made a run for the door.

"While you're tied up with the phone. I'm going over to Hinata's place."

Closing his phone with a snap, Sasuke rushed him to the door, "Over my dead body."

The chase was on…again.

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Notes: Sorry, it seems to rushed…again. I've had computer problems like you wouldn't believe this week and I barely submitted this piece before the deadline. I wanted to add so much more detail/events into this part, but time and computers wouldn't let me.

Thank you for reading!


	7. April, SasuHina

**April 2008**

**Title:** Mushy Feelings**  
Author:** Ms. Videl Son**  
Rating:** G ( K )**  
Challenge: **Showered With Love**  
Pairing:** SasuHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

--- --- ---

"Eww...I got mud on my new boots!" Ino complained, lifting her sky blue rainy day footwear out of the muck. She gave it a hearty shake, sending the sopping wet dirt particles flying in all directions. They clung to everything within their range, including Ino's pink-haired friend, who squealed as she was assaulted by the chunks of mud.

"Ino-chan!" cried Sakura, flinching her entire body away from the splatter. "You're getting my coat all dirty! Stop it!"

After a few squishy paces, Ino had extricated herself from the mud puddle and reestablished herself on firmer ground. "Oh, don't be such a crybaby, Sakura. It'll wash off."

The formerly timid girl muttered something quiet and spiteful under her breath that Ino didn't quite catch. Sakura was getting bolder, but was apparently still not brave enough to say what she meant to Ino's face.

"What was that?" the blonde demanded of Sakura, leveling a glare in her friend's direction.

Flushing a resentful pink, Sakura replied, "Nothing."

As she gave her pink-haired friend the once over, Ino still wasn't convinced that "nothing" was exactly what had come out of Sakura's mouth, but was willing to let it go. To prove it, she said, "Whatever...I hate rainy days, don't you? They're so_ icky_."

Nodding emphatically, Sakura jumped on the change of subject like a ravenous wolf. "Yeah, totally gross! I especially hate how there are _worms_ everywhere."

As if on cue, something wet and slimy collided with Ino's face and stuck there like undercooked spaghetti. "Aiiieee! Get it off, _get it off_!" was her immediate and visceral response, quickly followed by a lot of wild flailing and wordless screaming.

After finally managing to get whatever it was off of her person and flinging it away, it was Sakura's turn to panic. "It's in my hair! _Eee_!"

—

"Stupid girls!" Sasuke declared, wheezing a little as his laughter at Ino and Sakura's expense finally abated. He clutched at a stitch in his side and coughed a couple of times to clear out his lungs before saying, "It was only a _worm_!"

Sasuke's mean-spirited glee was always at its peak on rainy days. After all, that was when earthworms were forced to surface from the depths of the Earth or suffer a watery death in their tunnels, making them easily available for a bit of revenge against the girls in Sasuke's life who never seemed to take a hint. They brought it on themselves, really.

Sasuke's mother had warned him many a time to cease and desist this disgusting form of torture on the premise that, by the time he finally became interested in taking one of those squealing harpies as a love interest, no girl would have him. As far as Sasuke could see, none of them were deterred even in the slightest from their infatuated ravings, so he somewhat doubted that this would be the case. Besides, there was no way that any girl he ever so happened to like _that way_ would ever be so pathetically afraid of harmless annelids. No, Uchiha Sasuke would never settle for a girl who hated worms. He'd only date the ones who liked them as much as he did (thereby giving him a fail-safe excuse that would enable him to stay single forever).

Okay, so who would he victimize next? That obnoxious Ami girl was usually hovering around somewhere...

Looking around, Sasuke inwardly cheered when he spotted a more convenient target. Up ahead, as if a gift from the rain gods, sat Hyuuga Hinata with her back turned to him. She seemed to be preoccupied with one of the local park's flowerbeds, completely unsuspecting of what was about to befall her...perfect!

Sasuke did his best to tiptoe quietly in the squelching mud off to the side of the walking path while he picked out his new partner in crime. He glanced up at Hinata every so often just to make sure that he hadn't been discovered, but was overall confident in his stalking abilities and utilized most of his attention on deciding which worm to use in his next attack. Capturing one that was inching its way over to the safety of the sidewalk, Sasuke was ready.

"Okay, Yoshi," the Uchiha boy whispered to his newest friend immediately after taking cover behind a conveniently-placed tree. Only a few yards on the other side, Hinata sat, humming to herself as she puttered around in that little garden of hers. "Do your best to land on her head."

Taking careful aim, Sasuke wished Yoshi godspeed and chucked him at his unsuspecting classmate and ducked back behind his tree. Any second now, Yoshi would land on his target and the screaming would begin...Sasuke couldn't wait!

"Eh?" was the only sound heard from Hinata's direction. No squeals. No crying. Not even a panicked "Get it off, get it off!" for his troubles. Had he missed?

Both confused and curious simultaneously, Sasuke leaned around the tree trunk to take a peek at what was going on behind him. Hinata still had her back turned to him, her fingers probing through her short hair as if searching for something.

Oh, so she hadn't found him yet. That made sense.

When she finally pulled her hands away from her head, Yoshi was clamped between her right index finger and thumb. She turned her head to better observe Sasuke's wormy friend and the hidden boy's mischievous grin widened as her eyes grew round and big.

"Worm-san!" she cried, leaning in until Yoshi was practically touching her nose. "What are you doing back there? You belong in the garden with the pretty flowers..."

After Hinata had finished this gentle scold, she lowered Yoshi down to the soil plot before her and placed him on a spot that wasn't completely submerged in rainwater. Such concern for his friend's welfare caused Sasuke to feel all weird and mushy inside.

"Okay, Worm-san," Hinata said as she pulled her hand back, smiling down upon Yoshi during her pause. "Be m-more careful from now on..."

Oh, yeah, Sasuke was in _love_.


	8. April, SasuHina continued

**April 2008**

**Title:** Bridging Love**  
Author: **Fatcat648**  
Rating: **PG ( K+ )**  
Challenge:** Showered with Love**  
Pairing: **SasuHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

--- --- ---

The myth had been true.

The love glowed in Hinata's lilac eyes like a quiet flame, flickering in its strength and magnitude as the ringing of the distant church bells propelled her from her seat to lean forward into a nervous and tense Sasuke. The gondola rocked softly at their shifting movements as he attempted to keep distance from the love-struck girl.

However Sasuke couldn't control his dark eyes from smoldering at the water plastering itself to her curvy form from today's earlier showers. He quickly slapped himself mentally though when he felt Hinata manage to grab a hold of his ankle and slowly crawl toward his face.

His eyes widely stared at her soft smiling one as she inched closer, her peach dusted lips breathing heavily on his own labored mouth when the world finally came crashing down.

-

'A few hours earlier….'

-

Her livid moon-shaped eyes quickly scanned the old, fading colorful houses sleeping quietly by the lapping river before softly sketching its image onto her sketch pad. The rapid scratches of her pencil and the rhythmic crashing of the river filled her ears with a central calmness as Hinata finally finished her quick sketch. She smiled, closing the sketch pad while keeping her eyes solely on the beauty of Venice, Italy.

Spring break had just begun at Konoha University and with nothing else to do, Hinata had hopped on a plane with her friends to sunbathe in the Tuscan sun of Italy. They had seen the Sistine Chapels of Rome and the dusty museums of Florence and had now just arrived in Venice, "City of Water."

She pulled her jacket closer as a breeze brushed the ends of her long ebony hair whispering, "So beautiful…"

"Are you done?"

The deep baritone voice shattered the tranquil moment, causing Hinata to jump a little in surprise. Clutching her chest and sketch pad, she timidly turned to the voice behind her and immediately tensed. Uchiha Sasuke, decked in a black jacket, leaned casually against the wall watching her with such an intense gaze that sent shivers through her spine.

"S-Sasuke-san, w-what are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you."

She blinked in surprise and couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

He only responded with a "Hn.." and pushed himself off the wall as he approached her. She froze like a deer in the headlights and felt her breath shortened the closer he came to her.

Something about the younger Uchiha – or all Uchihas in fact – sent her mind into overload. His cool composure always made her stuttering and bent head seem glaringly shameful than normal. Hinata was perpetually avoiding the Uchiha in fear of the sharp gaze and cold attitude that could be directed to her fragile heart – qualities every girl at the University adored. She couldn't understand what his fan girls saw in him and really didn't want to find out.

And now she was completely alone with the Uchiha Sasuke.

For awhile Hinata and Sasuke continued to stare at one another, Hinata with a look of fear and anxiety and Sasuke with a look of boredom that tittered on the edge of something different.

When the silence grew too thick for Hinata to breathe, she tried to break the spell with a casual, "Where are the others?" but ended up wincing at the squeak that came out instead. Her embarrassment grew to a full-blown blush when she witnessed the Uchiha smirk at her shame.

She felt her cheeks burn hotly and buried her head into her hands, accidentally dropping her sketch pad open. She watched in horror as Sasuke bent down to pick up her sketch pad and stare at the drawing on the splayed out page.

A contented Naruto was happily napping on the bar stool at a restaurant with multiple empty ramen bowls surrounding the man. The detail was done carefully and considerately down to the very whiskers on the blonde's face.

Hinata stuttered in panic, "No! D-don't look! G-G-Give it b-back!"

The Uchiha ignored her words, staring at her sketch pad with flat and critical eyes. Hinata could only hover in hair-tearing patience before he would be done. When he did finally close the page, she snatched the sketch pad uncharacteristically rough, holding it close to her heart. Her thudding heart slowly quieted in her ears and with a blush still on her face she turned to the Uchiha.

"You're quite a good artist."

She blinked a few times before the impact of the words actually started to sink in. Her blush lightened to something of pleased embarrassment as she whispered, "Thank you."

Sasuke only turned his head to the sky with a "Hn," before saying "We should go now. The others are waiting for us at the café."

She nodded complacently and followed his languid form through the twisting and turning streets of Venice. The skies above rumbled with the warning of rain causing Hinata to worry. She hadn't thought to bring an umbrella. Her worries were confirmed when the sky opened to cascade a rain shower upon them.

Hurriedly she tried to hide her sketch pad under her jacket when Sasuke suddenly caught her hand, pulling her into the dry confines of a small convenient store. Both panted from the exertion and chill the rain had brought. Hinata however smiled gratefully at a silent Sasuke who quickly turned away.

She frowned slightly at his odd behavior before she felt her cell phone vibrate in her coat pocket. Quickly she fumbled to hold onto her sketch pad while fishing out the slippery cell phone. Sasuke finally intervened and took hold of the sketch pad, idly flipping through her art as she breathlessly answered the phone.

"Hey Hinata-chan! It's me! Naruto speaking!"

"N-N-Naruto-kun!"

"Yep! That's my name alright. Hehehe. Anyways where are you and Sasuke-teme? Sakura-chan and me are still here waiting at the café."

"Oh… W-Well it started to rain so we're just w-waiting out the rain."

Crashing noises and shouting filtered through the cell phone. Hinata winced at the chaos on the other line and anxiously called out Naruto through the speaker. When the blonde finally came back, he spoke with a strained voice, "Eh-er I think we have a problem Hinata-chan. Please! Come quick – 'NARUTO! YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO!!' No! Sakura-chan! N-Not the chair! Not the chair!! Hinata! Help! Save meee!!!!!"

The line strangely went dead.

"That dobe. He got himself into trouble again, didn't he?" asked Sasuke still flipping through her sketch pad. She vaguely nodded and Sasuke sighed in annoyance.

"We'll have to buy umbrellas then. Come on."

He held the convenient store's door opened for her. The spotted a pair of umbrellas right away hiding near the candy section. Hinata thoughtfully selected the purple floral umbrella compared to Sasuke's choice of a simple black design. With their umbrellas in hand, they both headed to the cashier only to realize the long queue waiting behind an elderly woman rummaging through her suitcase of a purse for her money.

Sighing, Hinata drudgingly stepped into the end of the line with Sasuke right behind her. For awhile neither spoke, content to listen to the rain splatter and the murmurs and groans of other customers.

What did break the comfortable silence though opened up a new door of problems for Hinata.

"You like Naruto, don't you?"

It wasn't a question really, but a statement. Yet it was the utter bluntness and straight-forwardness of the whole issue that knocked the breath out of her.

"H-How can you t-tell?"

He shrugged, turning his gaze out to the rain.

"You're always so nervous around him – even when just talking to him on a cell phone. The picture you drew of him was in much better detail than any of your other sketches but the blush was the first thing to give you away."

The growing blush on her cheeks only further proved his point.

"Why him?"

Hinata's mind spun dizzily at the turn of events. She would have never guessed she'd be having this kind of conversation with a boy – let alone Uchiha Sasuke!

Silently she prayed for the rain to let up or the line to speed up. Anything to avoid answering Sasuke's questions!

When his intense gaze did not falter, Hinata stuttered, "I-I-I don't really h-have a particular re-reason. I-I guess it's because he's always so cheerful an-and confident. He never gives up and I-I want to be l-like him. Strong."

She kept quiet when Sasuke didn't immediately respond after her confession.

Trying to keep her mind off the man beside her, she watched as the elderly woman at the cashier carefully counted her money to the annoyance of the cashier. When all the coins had been counted at least twice, the elderly woman pushed it to the cashier who, quick as lightning, bagged her goods, printed her receipt, and tiredly waved the old woman off.

The queue finally crept forward and it wasn't long before Hinata stood in front with her floral umbrella.

"That'll be 12 euros Miss."

She smiled politely and reached into her coat pocket for her wallet. Her smile dropped when all her hand found was lint. Panicking she searched all over herself for the elusive wallet and bit her lip when she heard the queue behind her groan.

"Miss? Is everything alright?"

"I-I'm sorry. I can't seem to f-find my wallet – I"

The clang of coins and cash interrupted her incoherent words as Sasuke placed the money down to pay for her umbrella.

Hinata dumfounded, watched agape as the cashier politely thanked them both for their patronage and Sasuke escort her outside with only one umbrella.

'Wait. Only one umbrella?'

"S-Sasuke-san, thank you b-but we only have one umbrella!"

He grunted opening the umbrella and stepping out into the rain, still clutching her sketch pad.

"Didn't have enough money to buy the other umbrella. We're just going to have to share this one."

Hinata gulped and slowly stepped underneath the umbrella with Sasuke. Standing so close to the Uchiha made her heart pound and head spin. She'd never noticed how tall he was compared to her petite form and tried not to brush too close to him. As a result of her attempts, the water from the edge of the umbrella continuously pattered on her shoulders, soaking her hair and coat till she couldn't stop shivering from the cold.

Sasuke only sighed and pulled her closer towards his form under the umbrella muttering, "Stay close and don't get wet."

Hinata nodded nervously the blush on her face glowing. She was too wrapped up in her thoughts that she almost didn't hear Sasuke's soft voice speaking.

"It doesn't sound like love. At least to me it doesn't."

"W-What do you mean b-by that?"

"Your feelings for Naruto. It's not love."

"Oh…"

"More like admiration, respect even."

"I… I don't understand Sasuke-san."

Sasuke stopped in mid-step causing Hinata to freeze too. She looked at Sasuke's indecipherable face and his hands tightening the umbrella's handle. They were only a block away from the café.

"Sasuke-san? Are you not feeling well?"

"No I.. Hinata, I…"

She took a step forward and pulled his forehead to bump into hers.

"Hmm… Sasuke-san your face is warm."

Her hands smoothed his wet bangs to rest more firmly on his face all the while wondering why the Uchiha's face seemed to turn suddenly pink. When she pulled back she shook her finger like a reprimanding mother, "Sasuke-san I think you may have caught a cold – probably the same one from Kiba-kun and Shino-kun."

The Uchiha was too baffled with her proximity to say much but didn't have to when smoke exploded from around the block. Women's screams shrilled through the streets air. Sasuke immediately regained his cool composure and ran with Hinata to the café.

Disaster reigned destruction in what was the Caffè di Litte.

Chairs and tables were broken to splinters littering the outdoor plaza while the café's windows and door opened to release the billow of a smoke most foul and thick.

Smelling something akin to burnt ramen.

"NAAAAAARUUUTOOOOOOO!!! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!"

"No! No! Sakura-chan! P-Put the knife down! P-Please!!"

Hinata looked questioningly at Sasuke who only shook his head.

Suddenly a blonde body was thrown from the window of the café, bleeding and bruised. Naruto groaned as he rolled along the hard pavement and whimpered at the sight of Sakura in a frilly apron with the splatter of blood on the peach cloth.

"NARUTO!"

The boy cried out when he spotted a bewildered Hinata and an irritated Sasuke standing in the street. He ran towards them and grabbed Hinata in tears, trying to shield himself from Sakura's wrath.

"Save me Hinata-chan!!!"

"Get off her dobe!"

"NARUTO!!"

Hinata felt herself being pulled from all three directions. Her head was spinning out of control and her arms were going to be ripped from their sockets if they didn't stop soon.

Frustrated she yelled, "STOP IT!! ALL OF YOU! STOP!"

Hinata breathed hard trying to glare at the stunned group, but couldn't hold her eyes into anger for long. She took a long breath to gather her nerves and mind.

"Alright. Please tell me what happened, Naruto and Sakura."

"Well you see here Hinata-chan, me and Sakura were waiting for you guys to finish up at this café – "

"When this moron here," Sakura said bonking Naruto on the head, "decides he wants to eat only to discover they don't have ramen in Italy. Somehow – only Kami knows – he manages to convince the owner to let him try and cook ramen in the kitchen."

"Yeah and things were going so well until the.. er.. ehehehe kitchen exploded."

Sakura slapped her hand to her forehead in unbelief of Naruto's utter stupidity. Sasuke and Hinata only stared at the blonde sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

"The kitchen exploded, dobe?"

"Ehehehe uh yes. It was an er… accident – but I – "

The shrill of a police whistle interrupted Naruto's excuse as a group of policemen appeared at the end of the street chasing after them.

"Oh crap! Not the police!" yelled Naruto.

"Oh my Kami! Naruto if I go to jail I swear I will murder you!" threatened Sakura.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no," squeaked Hinata looking around the streets.

"Damn! We'll have to split up. Keep your cell phone on and we'll meet up at the hotel later," ordered Sasuke.

With that, Sasuke dropped the umbrella and grabbed Hinata's hand pulling her down through the twisting streets of Venice. Sakura and Naruto headed in the other direction scampering as the policemen panted towards the café.

Hinata struggled to keep up with Sasuke's wind-breaking pace, praying she wouldn't slip and ruin their chances of escape. They turned so many corners that Hinata soon lost all sense of direction until they came upon the river.

Sasuke soon spotted an empty gondola boat and jumped in holding his hand out for Hinata. She shakily grabbed his hand and leapt onto the soggy cushions. Sasuke worked fast to untie the boat and pushed them out into the current to lazily drift through the city and hopefully out of pursuit.

Hinata dropped her head miserably into her hands.

"We're f-fugitives now. They might even deport us out of Italy."

Sasuke only chuckled.

"At least it stopped raining."

She peeked from her hands and smiled at the sun shyly breaking through the clouds.

"Yeah. It did stop."

She watched the river and the old houses pass them by as Sasuke rowed the boat forward. Her eyes continuously spotted bridges overhanging the river and the urge to sketch overwhelmed Hinata.

"Sasuke-san, do you happen to still have m-my sketch pad?"

He nodded bringing the sketch pad unharmed and completely dry from the inside of his jacket to hand to her. She nodded gratefully and pulled out a pencil from her pocket to start sketching the bridges.

"Sasuke-san, have you ever heard of the myths about the b-bridges in Venice?"

"No, nothing about bridges."

Still sketching the bridge, Hinata continued to chatter softly.

"There's a myth about a bridge in Venice that promises true love that will last forever. You have to travel under it by gondola and sometime in the afternoon when the church bells are ringing, a spell is cast and you'll fall in love with whoever you're with. Forever."

Sasuke snorted unconvinced.

Hinata a little peeved, placed her sketch pad down to eye the Uchiha.

"You don't believe so?"

"No. Too corny."

Hinata frowned and slipped off her coat since the sun was fully shining down upon them.

"It's not corny. It's romantic."

"Bridges, bells, and myths can't guarantee true love. Love is only a feeling that people have to work at."

Hinata stayed silent at that, staring intently at the Uchiha. He ignored her stares and continued to row slowly.

"You are quite a surprise, Sasuke-san."

He smirked at that and opened his mouth to retort when the distant church bells began to sing out. His eyes blinked in confusion as the gondola passed under a particularly wide bridge. A feeling tugged at Sasuke that didn't seem particularly right.

The bridge had snuffed out the sunlight and Sasuke could feel the anxiety build up to escape from the dankness. He withheld the sigh when the gondola finally broke back into the open air and sunlight.

"Oh Sasuke, it's beautiful. Relax and sit down beside me."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows at the request but rested the paddle against the side and took a seat next to Hinata. His eyes roamed the surroundings and he almost smiled at the tranquility of it all when he felt Hinata slowly rest her head against his shoulder.

He tensed at her next words.

"Sasuke-koi, I'm so happy to be here with you."

Her hand searched to intertwine her fingers with his own. Sasuke however shook himself from her grip to look confusedly at her.

Her lilac-eyes looked dazed and drunk as she whispered, "Kiss me, Sasuke-koi. I love you."

The myth had been true.

-

'Currently…'

-

The world finally came crashing down on Sasuke as he hit the water. What made things twice as worse was the belly-cracking laughter coming from Hinata as she tried to hold the tears from her eyes.

He had been played.

Sputtering in the water, he glared at the woman who was trying to apologize in between wheezes.

"I-I – wheeze – am so sorry Sasuke-san! I-ahahaha I didn't mean for you to f-hehehe-fall out of the boat!"

Tired of her laughter Sasuke decided to fight fire with fire. Taking a deep breathe, Sasuke sunk below the surface of the water.

Hinata finally caught her breath when she noticed Sasuke was no longer on the surface. Worried she called out his name, apologizing again and again.

She leaned over the side of the gondola looking for him when something reached out to pull her into the water. Hinata fell into the river with a shriek.

She sputtered and splashed in the water and glared at a laughing Sasuke.

It was a rare sound to hear.

And eventually the anger disappeared and she couldn't help but smile and laugh along with him too. They treaded water splashing each other until the cold finally seeped into their bones. Shivering Sasuke and Hinata swam toward the drifting gondola, Sasuke jumping on first.

He held out a hand to Hinata and brought her straight up so fast she had to lean into him to avoid splashing back into the freezing water. For awhile neither moved and still shivering from something besides the cold, Hinata slowly looked up into Sasuke's face.

Huskily he whispered into her ear, "You know, I never got that kiss."

And before she could protest, he pressed his lips gently on her own. Vaguely Hinata heard the church bells ring and the rain drizzle on them despite the clear skies.

-

End

-

**AN: **Well this was a very cutesey and romantic story! I actually have another version that uses the same basic beginning but with a totally different plot! I'll post it up later but I think I'll use this fanfict for my submission for DateMe. I hoped you enjoyed it! ^^


	9. May, LeeHina

**May 2008**

**Title:** Tweezers**  
Author:** Fatcat648**  
Rating:** PG ( K+ )**  
Challenge:** Spring of love  
**Pairing:** LeeHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

--- --- ---

"Oh Leeeeee-kun! Come out already and don't be soooo shy!" squealed a maliciously smirking Sakura.

Trembling Lee fought every fiber of his spring love that screamed to stop his ridiculous hiding and proclaim his happiness and love to Sakura for the fifty-seventh time….that is until the ominous clicking of the metal utensils in her hand reminded Lee why he was hiding in the first place.

His eyebrows scrunched in pain and worry at the sight of tweezers.

The sweat and admiration of his beautiful eyebrows – so alike to his hero Gai-sensei yet so much thicker that Lee himself believed that one day he could surpass beloved Gai-sensei in skills and eventually eyebrow mass.

Lee freely allowed the tears of a not-so-distant dream to fall.

His attention snapped back to his delicate flower Sakura as she cursed very er… sailor-like before Ino trampled through the bushes shouting, "Have you found him yet Forehead?"

"Not yet Pig but we'll get him," huffed Sakura.

Ino rolled her eyes tossing her long pale hair across her shoulder, "Kami I hope so. You don't know how long I've been dying to pluck those monsters he calls eyebrows!"

"Me too!! Every time I see him I can feel my perfectly thin and fine eyebrows twitch at the thickness he wears it!"

"I know, seriously! I just want to hold him down and practically shave those caterpillars off his face!"

"For real!"

"Totally!"

The conversation between the ditzy girls continued, lulling poor Lee into a false sense of security and hope until the mindless chatter suddenly stopped. His heavy round eyes shot open as the bushes were pulled back to reveal a surprised TenTen. For a moment in the world, everything was all right.

Tiredly Lee asked, "What brings you here TenTen-"

The words stopped as Lee watched in horror the grin grow on TenTen's face. In a high-pitched singing voice she called out, "Oh girls! Look who I found!"

The pink and yellow harpies immediately descended, their weapons of tweezers gleaming in the light that glared even brighter than a tag-team smile of Gai-sensei and himself. Lee gasped in horror as he rolled out of the bushes the girls attacked with ferocity of plucking that left the limbs abhorrently bare.

Lee gasped as he scrambled to run before TenTen determinedly circled him, wrapping a link of metal chains tightly around his legs.

"Girls! Hurry! The Eyebrows! Pluck the Eyebrows!!!!" she screamed.

Lee struggled against his bounds but calmed at the touch of his beloved cherry blossom's hand stroking his cheek.

"Oh Lee-kun," cried Sakura, "Please stop fighting us. It's for your own good. Please, do it for me?"

For a moment, Lee was left stunned by her maiden blossoming beauty and the tears of youth freely fell from his circular eyes.

"Oh Sakura! How foolish I've been!" he shouted.

The maidenly beauty nonetheless transformed into the nightmare of the Boogey Man when the tweezers came into view – causing the tears of youth to run salty burning his eyes with the tears of petrified fear.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" screamed Lee.

The revenues of strength surged forward as Lee ripped through the metal chains and took off running through the village.

The girls were left blinking owlishly in the dust, their tweezers strangely bent at odd angles.

It was Ino who first snapped out of the daze of Lee's Lotus Gate Power and quickly snapped the others out of their own daze – more specifically slapped.

"Darn it Forehead! I thought you said you had him on a leash!"  
"Shut up Pig!"

"Wasn't it you who said, Oh it's sooo obvious that Lee is totally in love with me! He'll do whatever I want! If I asked for it, he'd shave his whole head off for me!" mocked Ino in a high whiny and nasal voice.

Sakura's cheeks angrily flushed dark red. In a fit of rage, her fist came crashing down uprooting the delicate flowers and bushes.

Ino squawked in surprise and TenTen carefully did a back flip to land gracefully on a sturdy tree. The Weapons Mistress sighed at their antics, "You know we'll never find him if you two keep squabbling."

The other girls turned a menacing glare at TenTen, effectively shutting her up as their petty argument continued.

A squirrel scurried by in a scare, catching TenTen's eye with an eerie suspicion.

-

Lee ran.

Lee ran hard. So hard he must have circled the village twice within the span of three minutes.

And though Lee ran hard, he didn't miss spotting the scared squirrel well ahead in his path. With the quick movements of the Green Beast, Lee jumped over the squirrel tossing it a happy thumbs-up never quite noticing the flower bush that happened to pop out from nowhere.

Lee landed in the bush with a noisy crash.

For a bewildered moment, Lee sat around dazedly staring at the pretty flowers smiling back at him. The small lilac petals tickled at his skin, irritating his nose. Lee wrinkle his nose before he felt the air tremble around him. He squinted his eyes as he attempted to pacify the irritable nose with the backside of his hand, but it was too late.

The bush shook at the great 'AAAAACCHOOOOOOO!!!!' Lee bellowed out.

Lee winced at the sound and mentally slapped himself until he heard a soft willowy voice shakily call out, "H-Hello? W-Who's there?"

Lee willed himself to become one with the bush but sadly his prayers were not heard. Instead the leaves were parted to reveal the curious face of Hyuuga Hinata. Her wide lavender eyes blinked owlishly and quietly she asked, "Ah Lee-san, w-what are you doing h-here?"  
Lee uncharacteristically sat quiet, thinking of a way to escape from the cousin of his ultimate rival Neji. However the girlish shrills that seemed to be stalking closer forced the torrent waves of helplessness out of Lee's mouth as he cried on about the plot from Konoha's extremely hormonal population to pluck his eyebrows till there was nothing left. His story ended in more trickling tears as he recounted the escape and hiding in this bush.

For awhile, Hinata sat silently staring at the eyebrows in question. She was about to open her mouth to speak when another louder and shrillest voice interrupted her unheard words.

"LEE-KUN!! WHERE ARE YOU????!!!!!!!!" screamed Sakura.

Lee gave her a pleading look for her help to which Hinata returned with a small smile all the while gushing on the inside at the puppy look.

Hinata disappeared from his sight causing Lee great anxiety as he really couldn't hear what the young woman told the thorny flower about his hidden presence.

He held his breathe making a silent promise to himself that if Hinata kept him safe, he would gladly do 500 laps around Konoha backwards.

He tensed himself for betrayal just as TenTen had done, when he heard her soft graceful steps patter back toward the bush. The leaves were parted once more as Hinata's heart-shaped face popped out into sight. With a small smile she said, "D-don't worry anymore Lee-san. Th-they're gone now. It's s-safe to come out now."

"Is it truly safe, Hinata-san?" he questioned.

"Hai."

Slowly Lee climbed out from the bush, the mangled flowers sighing in relief at the lighter weight. Hinata giggled at the stray leaves and petals sticking to him at odd places as she helped brush them off his person.

Lee couldn't imagine a gentler touch.

Aware of the blush slowly eating at his face he stilled her hands to say, "Thank you Hinata-san. You have my undying gratitude for your help."

He bowed to her and made a run to escape from this new and uncomfortable feeling when he heard her soft voice call out, "W-Wait! Lee-san!"

He froze in his movements surprised at her command and turned toward her with a nervous smile.

"A-Ah, y-yes Hinata-san?"  
She titled her head to the side looking hard at him as she asked, "Why do your eyebrows mean so much to you?"

Surprised at the stutter-free question and the boldness of it all, Lee stumbled to take a step back. Hinata only stayed still, patiently waiting for an answer.

"My eyebrows?"

She nodded.

"Well I must be honest to say it never really crossed my mind until today. But if I think about it, I must say that these eyebrows are just further proof of my adoration of my hero, Gai-sensei. I plan to grow up to be exactly just like him. Eyebrows included!" he flourished with a glinting smile and a thumbs-up.

Hinata let out a small giggle, hiding her smile behind her interlaced fingers. She took a small step closer to the smiling shinobi in the green jumpsuit.

"I-I'm glad you admire Gai-sensei so much."

"YOSH! Gai-sensei has given me so much of the power of youth!"

"Y-yes, but I wonder… W-Wouldn't you mind being just a little bit d-different from Gai-sensei. I-I mean after all Lee-san is only Lee-san as Gai-sensei is only Gai-sensei."

Her words left him speechless, a baffled look plastered on his face that shot his eyebrows beneath his bowl cut bangs and made his circular eyes the size of saucer plates.

Hinata seeing his face panicked to add, "B-But whatever Lee-san chooses to be, I w-will always like Lee-san for w-who he is!"

The apple blush Lee had been suppressing bubbled to the surface as he watched in awe Hinata change from a pale moonlight-shade to the color of Gaara's hair.

"Hinata-san! I- no p-please don't think like that – I"

"THERE HE IS GIRLS!!!!"

The battle-cry snapped the two out of the cute and awkward moment as Lee saw the ambush of girls aiming straight for him.

Hinata quickly made a move to push him forward as she stepped in front of the female stampede.

"Run Lee-kun, run!" she whispered below her breathe, Byakugan activating.  
Lee marveled at such strength as he jumped the mangled bush to freedom. And yet as he ran, the apple blush still stained his cheeks whenever his thoughts turned to a certain dark-haired kunoichi with a gentle touch.

Flowers, he thought, flowers would definitely be perfect for a new spring start.

-  
End

A.N: I've never done a LeeHina pairing before so I hope this wasn't too er awkward or weird? Sorry for any mistakes and I hope this entry still makes the deadline!

Thanks for reading!


	10. June, ShinoHina

**June 2008**

**Title:** Once in a Blue Moon**  
Author:** LadyKnightofHollyrose**  
Rating:** G ( K )**  
Challenge:** June Bugs**  
Paring:** ShinoHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

--- --- ---

As Shino strode to his seat, nondescript as ever, he was not surprised in the slightest as the sounds of varied shrieks and squeals attacked his ears from behind.

Sitting down, he focused his chakra in an attempt to calm his Kikai bugs (restless because of the upsetting vibrations since entering the room), though this too was disrupted as a high pitched voice broke his concentration.

"Squash it, squash it!"

If the shrillness of the voice wasn't enough to send a shiver down the stoic Aburame's spine, then the words uttered certainly were.

Glasses flashed as his head snapped around, his eyes zoning in on the scene. A small crowd was beginning to gather around the desks on the top right hand corner of the classroom as academy students clustered around what was known to be Haruno Sakura's table.

There was a shrill cry of "Get that thing away from me!" before Shino rose resolutely from his seat to investigate.

His blood ran cold at the sight beyond the sea of heads; a small spider, barely an inch in terms of size (including the length of its legs) was perched on the desk between two terrified (and frankly terrifying) kunoichi. Opposite them stood Naruto, arms raised, fingers grasping a book, evidently waiting for the right moment to drop it and subsequently flatter the poor creature below it.

Had he not been so concerned about the spider's well being, he may even have taken a moment to warn the blond that killing a spider would not catch the Haruno girl's attention. Ok, he probably would not have, but he did not usually point out the obvious.

Behind the high collar of his coat, Shino's lips quirked down in a barely perceptible frown; how could kunoichi be expected to carry out high level missions if they were rendered useless by arachnophobia when the spider in question was so much smaller than they themselves were?

The situation seemed to escalate as Naruto's eyes narrowed in concentration as he followed the tiny spider's movements with his eyes. One finger uncurled from the book and Shino's heart all but stopped. He had to intervene!

"W-w-wait!"

All eyes turned to the source of the noise, the spider forgotten for a moment.

Shino's brows almost shot up when he recognised Hyuuga Hinata, easily the shyest (and probably the kindest) member of their year group. The analytical side of his mind stepped back from the spider-situation for a moment, and he noted how intriguing it was to find the girl intentionally thrusting herself into the spotlight that she always seemed to avoid.

Indeed, her usually pale complexion slowly coloured as the eyes of the whole class trained on her as she made her way though the crowd. She didn't need to push or shove her way to the desk (though it was practically common knowledge that she would never do such a thing regardless), as the cluster parted, allowing her to pass.

She gulped audibly as she came under the scrutiny of two pairs of eyes – one pair electric blue and one sea green.

Hinata turned to address Sakura, who observed her classmate with curiosity and slight confusion.  
"Um… Sakura-san, w-would you mind the sp-spider so much if it wasn't… um… here?"

Sakura's brow furrowed slightly in thought as she tried to make sense of the question, and why _Hinata_ was asking her this.

"I wouldn't care if it was nowhere near _me_, I guess…"

The petite girl approached the other side of the desk, and Shino began to understand her plan.  
She took a book out from under her arm and aligned it with the edge of the table as her small hand hovered behind the spider tentatively.

A number of the kunoichi in the surrounding crowd gasped as she gently guided the spider to the book, never once actually coming in contact with the creature itself.

The mass of students - which had melded together so that they could stare at those in the middle – separated hastily to let Hinata through.

'Amazing how such a tiny creature could instil such fear in (almost) grown human beings,' was the thought that struck Shino as Hinata ambled towards the door. More newly arrived students scrambled out of her way as they caught a glimpse of the spider scuttling across the book.

Hinata struggled with the door for a short while. Nobody moved or even attempted to offer the girl assistance and eventually she used her elbow to push down the door handle and her shoulder to nudge the door wide enough to edge through the room.

A collective sigh sounded around the room as the door swung shut behind her – and more importantly the spider. Sakura turned her attention back to Ino beside her and they began to bicker again. Naruto eyed what had been Hinata's retreating form for a moment, as though puzzling over something, before jumping to Sakura's (unwanted) defence.

Shino shook his head as he returned to his seat, still deep in thought regardless of the steadily escalating commotion around him.

Indeed, the whole spectacle that morning had truly been intriguing…

x X x

Umino Iruka strolled through the corridor, going through a mental checklist of the objectives he needed to cover in his next lesson, as he often did, when he was stopped by the sound of a soft voice.

"I-I'm sorry Spider-san; I hope they didn't a-actually hurt you. Y-you should be safe now though…"

Iruka watched with mild amusement as his timid student let the said spider go through the window, holding the book that it had been on up to rest level with the ledge, reaching it only by standing on the tips of her toes.

"And what exactly did you save Spider-san from, Hinata-san?"

The small girl jumped slightly and was only saved from stumbling by Iruka himself, who gently steadied her.

Sparing her of the need to reply, he assured her, "It's fine. I have a fair idea about what the problem probably was." Steering her back towards the classroom he could already hear the clamour that undoubtedly came from _his_ class (the voice of a certain student that he was particularly fond of was clearly identifiable, even a corridor away).

Reaching the correct door after a quiet walk, Iruka opened the door (Naruto had attempted the board rubber prank a couple of days ago, so he hadn't any reason to take precautionary measures upon entering) and held it open for the Hyuuga heiress, who shuffled inside and murmured a quiet "Thank you".

Instead of taking the direct route to his desk, Iruka paused a moment and Hinata turned to eye him curiously.

He leaned down so that she would be able to hear him over all of the noise and said, "I'm sure that Spider-san will be fine now, Hinata-san."

She seemed to relax slightly after hearing the promise. Giving him a respect filled bow, she trotted back up to the benches to find her designated seat.

Taking a seat himself and setting his paperwork down on his desk, Iruka noted that Hinata was stopped by a fellow classmate (arguably as much of an introvert as she) on her way back.  
As a teacher in the Academy, Iruka had picked up the indispensable skill of lip-reading: he observed the exchange between the heirs of two clans with growing interest.

"Ah, Hinata-san?" The kunoichi-in-training turned slowly to regard the other, apparently wondering whether she had misheard and that she _hadn't_actually been called. It was a little hard to tell, but it seemed as though Aburame Shino was giving her his undivided attention. She gave a tentative nod as a prompt for him to continue.

"The way that you defended and rescued a creature from adversaries who were more powerful that itself was admirable. For that you have my respect."  
Shino's glasses flashed.

As far as he could remember, this was the most that Iruka had heard the quiet boy say to his fellow classmates at one time – and if the wide-eyes look of astonishment was any indication, then the same was most likely true for her too.

Then – as Iruka had guessed – the girl's face flushed to turn a ripe shade of pink.

"Th-thank you, Shino-san!" She gave him a small bow, but was then startled into a jump as Iruka finally bellowed for his class to shut up and sit in their places (also taking the opportunity to threaten them with the consequences of missing homework).

The lesson was fairly uneventful - barring the occasionally outburst from Naruto, having to scold Chouji for eating and throwing chalk at Shikamaru in an attempt to rouse the boy – all in a day's work, really. And in true Friday-afternoon-fashion as soon as class was dismissed there was a sudden surge as everyone pushed and shoved in an effort to escape school for the weekend.

Iruka was gathering his own belongings (ready to go to the staffroom for a coffee before he started marking homework there) when he realised that actually, he wasn't alone. His surprise was only betrayed by a blink as he watched Aburame Shino take measured steps towards him.

"Was there something you wanted to discuss, Shino-san?"

"Would I be correct in understanding that after graduation, genin are divided into three man cells which consist of two boys and a kunoichi?"

Iruka nodded, impressed. He always found it odd that even children from shinobi families assumed that hey would work alone, even after being introduced to the teams of their relatives – he'd often heard complaints of 'having to tam up' when the initial squads were assembled.  
"Then may I request that our class graduates, the kunoichi assigned to my cell is Hyuuga Hinata-san?"

Iruka studied him for a moment before saying slowly, "I think I can see where this is going… Hinata-san will respect your kikaichi jutsu and fight alongside it while some of the other kunoichi would be distracted by the technique." His voice lowered slightly as he continued to ponder the idea, almost as though he was just thinking to himself, "…and with your abilities combined, the squad would be specifically geared for tracking… This could work very well. Shino-san, I'll have a word with the other teachers on the matter, but you needn't worry about graduation yet,"

Shino nodded and thanked the man before turning on his heel and briskly excusing himself.

The more Iruka contemplated on the idea, the more Shino's proposal seemed to make sense; he was really rather impressed by Shino's foresight… Despite the fact that this class still had a couple of years before graduation, he found himself trying to come up with a third member to the team over his mug of coffee.

x X x

As Shino stepped out of the Academy and began his journey home, he couldn't help but think of one reason for his request that Iruka-Sensei had neglected to mention: that Hinata was _nice _(and every time since, even when Hinata chose to be assertive – which only ever occurred once in a blue moon – Shino found himself confirming that initial assessment).

— — —

**Author's Notes: **So I've finally managed to write something that's not AU (if you don't count drabbles) in the Naruto Fandom! This ShinoHina oneshot was written as my entry for this month for "DateMe" (who have a profile here, and on DeviantArt - go check all the entries out!). It's also my first time writing Iruka and Shino...

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this :)

-Hollyrose-


	11. July, NaruHina

**July 2008**

**Title:** Sparks Fly**  
Author:** LadyKnightofHollyrose**  
Rating:** PG ( K+ )**  
Pairing: **NaruHina**  
Challenge:** Sparks Fly

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

--- --- ---

Festivities had been held for the entire day, and those not on boarder patrol or on ANBU missions were able to spend their day with their loved ones.

The handing down of the prestigious title – Hokage – had always been a time of emotion, whether the villagers mourned the loss of the previous Hokage or commended the successor of the great responsibility.

The official ceremonies had quickly come to an end to give way to celebration – restaurants were open until late, owners happily serving into the night in honour of the new leader of the village. Fireworks could be heard in every corner of Konohagakure as its residents remembered their preceding leaders and discussed the hot topic of thoughts of their new one.

The Hokage himself had slipped away an hour or so after the formal service had been performed having spent some time with his friends and conversing with several of those he was now expected to lead and protect.

As he neared the edge of a clearing, his heavy footfalls slowed to a halt as he raised a brow in surprise – it seemed as though someone else had claimed that particular training field for their own. Upon closer inspection though, he recognised the other and approached the place where he had officially become a genin.

The one already occupying his sanctuary – seated with their back resting against one of the posts that he had been tied to so many years ago – turned to face him, eyes lighting with recognition instantly.

"Hyuuga-sama," he greeted gravely, respectfully inclining his head to the leader of the oldest clan in the village. The other returned the gesture, getting to their feet and murmuring, "Hokage-sama" with a bow of their own.

They both seemed to sigh simultaneously causing them both to look up in surprise, before smiling at each other sheepishly.

"Hokage-sama-"

"Just 'Naruto' is fine," he insisted as he descended to the floor choosing to lean against one of the free posts.

Taking their original position on the floor, sinking down again, the Hyuuga Clan's

leader relied with a meek "As you wish," before continuing, "I would not have expected to find you here today of all days Naruto."

His reply was a lopsided grin and the retort of, "I could say the same to you Hyuuga-sama."

His companion nodded agreeably, and they shared a comfortable silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts whilst observing the distant splashes of colour that adorned the night sky.

"Hey, Hinata…" Naruto said suddenly, eyes still turned up to watch the sparks dance across the sky.

Said Hyuuga turned to regard him, humming to show that she had heard.

"How are you finding being the Clan Head?" The question was a serious one; one that he asked from both his duty as the Hokage and from concern as a friend.

Hinata rested her head back against the post once more, her eyelids cloaking her pearly eyes for a moment before responding.

"It goes well enough. The majority elders have accepted me as father had after the chunin exams," she began, sending a grateful smile in his direction – he of course waved it off with a smile of his own and a shake of his head. "Thos who oppose me keep in mind that I have Neji nii-san and Hanabi-chan by my side; they also cannot afford to offend the entire branch side of the family coupled with some of the other clan heads, but most importantly not the Hokage. Where they would have previously contradicted anything they thought wrong, they would now falter; they are not as confident to do as they please without my father at their head."

Naruto inclined his head in understanding; it was true that he had finally reached his lifelong dream by claiming the title of Rokudaime Hokage - he'd always believed that he would get there one day – but coming this far certainly hadn't been smooth sailing. Indeed, there were still a great number of obstacles that still stood in his way. Whilst his dynamic personality had not helped, the very fact that he had been the Kyuubi's vessel had more than hindered his chances of being widely accepted as leader – in the years of the Sandaime Hokage's return the very idea that Naruto should fulfil his ambitions was almost laughable.

But the Akatsuki had changed the village's perception of many things.

The pressure of war had forced many young shinobi of Konohagakure to mature; Naruto and Hinata among them. Hinata had managed to loose the habit of stuttering after the shock caused by the death of her father – to whom she'd grown close since the chunin exams – and the sudden impact of shouldering the responsibility of the entirety of the Hyuuga Clan had come to rest upon her shoulders as she solitarily lead them through the invasion, fully prepared to defend her family with her life just as her father before her had.

Still demure and diplomatic, and shy of being exposed to large amounts of attention, Hyuuga Hinata was now known for her unwavering determination that became the strength of her clan; the insecurity and fragility that had once hindered her now only a shadow that followed her, telling of the past that had shaped her present.

Naruto too had matured; slightly less impulsive but equally passionate, he and learned when to hold his tongue (barely) and when to express his views; as well as the ability of working with those he did not necessarily approve of without resorting to rudeness. It always made him chuckle to think of his behaviour towards Tazuna the bridge builder when they had first met.

With the daimyo of the Land of Fire, Koharu and Homura as his charges (all of whom had insisted that they most certainly did NOT need any protection) for the duration of the invasion, he had soon – though begrudgingly – gained their favour by putting his own life on the line to ensure that none of them were harmed. All four of them were kept from the main battle (for Naruto's sake as well as the others') they were still confronted by Amegakure shinobi before any of the Akatsuki had arrived. Sasuke had been intent upon the demise of the village's elders, though in actuality the only one to fall to the Uchiha had been Danzou.

Of course the horrors of battle had caught up with Naruto, and he now understood the extent of the responsibilities of the Hokage in place of the previous, glamorised perception he had had. But this did not deter him from wanting to step up to the position.

Having gained trusted friends and comrades among shinobi and civilians alike, Naruto's drive to protect his village only became all the more stronger.

The Godaime, although alive, had suffered grievous injuries; after amassing many deep wounds she had proceeded to overextend herself both in fighting and in her attempts to heal. Overreaching her chakra supplies, including the amount stored behind the seal on her forehead, her chakra coils had become too fragile to use much chakra, though the amount that she now had at her disposal had decreased dramatically.

Still, she had continued to lead the village, helping it rebuild itself once more whilst taking the decision to train the one chosen to be the next Hokage.

One Uzumaki Naruto.

It had been a controversial verdict, and many had expressed problems with the appointment. But Naruto had allies too. Members of the rookie nine, now with some standing, some at the head of organisations or families after the war, had supported him. Some civilians whom he knew personally gladly vouched for him too.

His years under the Godaime's rigorous training had kept him in the public eye; more of the villagers were able to see that the Kyuubi container did just that – contained the Kyuubi. To most it was painfully obvious that Naruto was the one in charge; the Kyuubi would not be let loose upon them any time soon.

There were those who sill opposed him.

But as the Godaime reminded him, "You will never please everyone, no matter how hard you try."

Hinata gazed up at the sky, a smile flitting across her features as a particularly

loud, purple firework exploded across the sky, reminding her if a certain firecracker related to her. Closing her eyes for a moment she remarked, "The ceremonies today went relatively smoothly…"

Naruto found himself nodding absently to the statement, adding "…and now I am will officially be recognised as the Rokudaime Hokage. Who would have thought..?"

The wind almost carried the next words uttered away, and as they reached his ears, Naruto wasn't entirely sure that he had heard right.

"I always believed that you would become Hokage." The quiet certainty in her tone caught Naruto unawares, and he couldn't help but stare at the woman seated beside him. He was acutely grateful for the shadows that concealed the colour that stained his cheeks. He opened his mouth, supposedly to reply, only to be cut off by her gentle voice again. She was still eyeing the sky when she spoke.

"You could call it the beginning of a new age: with you as the Hokage, and me – the weak Hyuuga heir – as the Hyuuga Clan's head, we'll be a generation of surprises…"

"Anyone who can call you weak must have knot holes for eyes." He stated bluntly. His phrasing reminded her of a time when he'd run around pulling pranks, endlessly being scolded by teachers. Still, the words themselves had her returning the wide eyed stare despite herself and regardless of any changes that she had undergone in the last few years, she still felt heat rise to her cheeks.

"Hinata-sama!" Despite recognising the owner of the voice, Hinata couldn't move. It was as though she was 12 again. "Hinata-sama, the elders request your presence to discuss matters pertaining to the scroll that you presented to them this morning…"

Finally regaining control of her mind, she turned to regard the third who had entered the clearing, "Neji-nii… Since it would seem that the matter is not one of urgency, do you deem it appropriate to postpone this for tomorrow morning?"

Neji nodded slowly; it was a reasonable suggestion. The darkness that had enveloped the sky clearly enhanced the sparks dancing across it, being as late as it was, and of course there was the fact that the day had been recognised as a holiday. He smirked at the two, turning on his heel, calling over his shoulder, "Enjoy the celebrations."

Left alone again, the Hyuuga Clan Head and the Rokudaime Hokage watched the remaining fireworks in silence. No more words were needed as they enjoyed each other's company as comrades, as friends because tomorrow they would surely slip back into their roles as the Hyuuga Head and the Hokage.

Listening to the crackles of the rockets shooting up and the quieted celebrations, each pondered the other's words.

The pink firecracker that dominated the heavens wasn't solely responsible for the hue that bathed their features.

-Hollyrose-


	12. August, KibaHina

**August 2008**

**Title:** Pavlovian Influences**  
Author:** shnickers**  
Rating:** PG ( K+ )**  
Challenge:** Dog Days of Summer**  
Pairing:** KibaHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

--- --- ---

**Author's Note:** I hate to start a story off with the dreaded and time-consuming "Author's Note," but I need to clarify one little thing before the start of the story. For those of you who have never taken a general psychology class, or for those of you have eagerly forgotten the contents of said general psychology class, here's a little lesson/refresher on Mr. Ivan Pavlov. Or you could Wiki/Google/whatever-your-method-of-preferred-search-engine-is it.

In the simplest of terms, Pavlov's classical conditioning theory stated that you can teach animals (including us Homo sapiens) through a stimulus-response system. In his famous experiment, before they fed hungry dogs, the scientists would ring a bell and immediately blow meat powder into the dog's nose. The dog would then drool. This process was repeated a number of times before eventually, simply ringing the bell would initiate a flood of drool, even without the meat powder. Basically, the dogs learned to expect the delicious smell/taste? of meat powder (yummy) with the ringing of a bell.

So, basically, you can teach an animal to pair a stimulus (to a certain extent…) with a natural, biological response (blinking, drooling, flinching, whatever). As for humans… think brownies or Kool-Aid.

Thanks for bearing with that. And now, on to the story…

Hinata peered around the corner of the market stall, white eyes wide with excitement. Various passersby looked just a second too long at the face brimming with shy, childlike anticipation. That is, until with a quiet incantation, veins bulged up around her eyes, now reflecting hard lines and intimidating intensity, whether intended or not. They quickly averted their eyes, quickening their pace as they passed.

Unaware of all else around her, she narrowed her eyes slightly, trying her best to locate her wayward teammate. She knew he liked to duck and weave through the crowded afternoon central street on the way to Team Eight's favorite training grounds with his constant furry companion. She also knew that he arrived at this spot around seven minutes after noon. It might seem strange that she knew so much, but…all that Naruto-watching had really improved her observation skills! And Kiba, while a self-proclaimed lover of adventure and excitement, rarely changed his routine.

After two long months of careful setup and execution, she was now ready to complete the final step in her…well, for lack of a better word, prank. Not that she was really the type to play pranks, unlike certain other ninja. But ever since she had picked up that article in Hana's office, initially scanning the text while waiting for Kiba to show up, the words had clicked together in her head, and her master plan had bloomed seemingly right in front of her stunned eyes.

It was perfect. And very fitting.

She had taken a couple of days to perfect the most important part of the experiment: beef jerky. Hinata knew Kiba had an affinity for meat; she had seen him frequently gnawing most ecstatically on flavored dried beef, so she decided to cook up a batch.

Unfortunately, it was a little trickier than it seemed. She had some experience with baking pastries—her love for sugar was just about as passionate as Kiba's affinity for meat—so she figured all that was involved in the making of dried beef was, well, beef, and some spices.

Apparently, baking cinnamon rolls and making jerky were two very different culinary projects.

She didn't know that certain spices induced upchucking reflexes when paired in great quantities with slightly undercooked beef. Thankfully, she had gotten a container to Hanabi in time. (Hinata really owed her for being such a willing test subject.) Three disastrous attempts later successively took her Neji-niisan, head chef, and eldest auntie out of action for two arduous, nauseating hours. The remaining occupants were forced to seek shelter outside of the compound.

In the end, she bought a few packets from the snack stall, and headed on her merry way. After all, home-cooked was definitely not one of the required parts of her project.

Securing the beef, it turned out, was the easy part. It had taken her days to work up her nerves and calm herself enough so as to not appear too suspicious.

The first attempt had been disastrous. She had stuttered her way over to Kiba, stumbled in the process, and forced him to catch her by the shoulders to avoid a head-on collision. Hinata had stuck her hand into her jacket pocket to grab the jerky and had instantly realized that perhaps thrusting it into her coat pocket was not the best way to transport meat—sticky meat, that was now linty sticky meat.

She had decided to forgo that attempt and try another day.

During the second attempt, Akamaru had somehow gotten wind of her carefully enclosed pocket and eagerly ripped the beef jerky out of its protective environment to run streaming down the street. He was just so big and as quick of an eater as Kiba, that by the time Hinata and Kiba had caught up to Akamaru, the only evidence left of the jerky was the pepper dotting his mouth.

Five wibbles and wobbles later, she had finally gotten the routine down pat. She would smile, greet him—"Hello, Kiba-kun"—and wordlessly thrust a wrapped piece of jerky at him. He, in turn, would automatically inhale and drool helplessly, before demolishing the meat in a matter of seconds.

Hinata had worried that because of all her failures and clumsy tactics, her subject had become aware of the experiment. Thankfully, Kiba had been caught in one of his periods of oblivious obtuseness, which came and went, usually staying longer than not. But a month of random acts of beef jerky kindness had not clued Kiba into any lurking motive—not that Hinata would usually have one, besides the kindness, of course.

Twenty meetings, twenty carefully staged greetings, and thirty-seven pieces of beef jerky later, Hinata was ready to call in the results of her ingenious, though unoriginal, experiment. In just three more minutes, she was going to watch as her oblivious teammate and friend drooled rivers at the sight and sound of her.

She could hardly wait.

Her chakra-advanced sight zoomed in on and pinpointed a figure in the far distance. Two figures, actually, as was expected. They were ambling along merrily, ignorant of what was to come. She smiled giddily, eyes soft and fingers twitching rapidly against the wooden post.

~*~*~*~

Kiba swerved in and out of pedestrians, market stalls, and various cart drivers, confidently and agilely avoiding each possible accident at the last second. He grinned, hearing curses and angry screaming aimed in his direction and simply sped up, becoming even more reckless as he wove through the lunchtime shoppers of Konoha's bustling market street. It wasn't until he was passing by a melon stand that he picked up a familiar scent buried within an entrapment of grease, sweat, and musky bodies; he instantly perked up and skidded to a stop, centimeters away from a cart-and-donkey driver, who swerved crazily out of the way while flashing his middle finger. Kiba ignored the half-crazed driver in favor of a pair of sandals peeking out from around the apple stand. He dashed over, coming to a stop in front of the startled girl.

And there, amidst smelly children and heavily perfumed teenage girls, was a breath of light floral and air. She smiled at him sweetly. "Hello, Kiba-kun."

He grinned and opened his mouth in reply when an immense flood of drool dribbled out of his mouth and down his chin.

Success!

Hinata's first instinct was to giggle and gently tease her friend, but instead she froze, horrified. She only just then realized how embarrassing it would be for this experiment to take place in such a crowded environment. Even though her friend was just about as boisterous and outgoing as could be didn't mean that he was impermeable. Judging from the stunned, wide-eyed look on Kiba's face, the embarrassment would be setting in right about… now.

The Inuzuka clan mark seamlessly blended right into the ripe tomato of his skin as he swiped his arm across his lower face. At the sight of that blindingly red, cute blush, Hinata snapped out of her stupor and quickly hurried over to him, gripping him by his other wrist and dragging him over to a less-frequented side street. He followed wordlessly, sleeve still protectively shielding his mouth, lest the floods began anew.

As soon as she had him in her protective custody, he turned on her, glaring. Sixteen years of mischief had made him privy to that initial gleam of trickery in her eyes at his embarrassing public performance. "What…"—he was careful to speak out of the very corner of his mouth—"…did you do to me?"

Hinata wrung her hands nervously and cringed as she felt his dark eyes drilling her into the ground. "I… I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to… I wasn't… I-I'm so sorry!" Bent over at the waist, she tensed as his pant-clad legs loomed closer in her restricted view.

"Whatever it was, it was fantastic!"

She lifted her head in surprise, mouth dropping into a small 'o'. "F-f-f-fantastic?"

"Yeah. I mean, it couldn't have been a genjutsu, because I definitely would have smelled the chakra use. What kind of technique was that?" His eyes were crinkled and friendly, smiling at her in obvious admiration.

After an eternity of blinking, her neurons resumed fire. "Well…" she began, eyes lighting up with excitement. "I found this article on Hana-san's desk the other day… I wanted to try the experiment, and since it was with dogs… w-well, I thought of you and…"

"Experiment?" He frowned. "Dogs?"

She nodded eagerly. "I-it was about… how dogs can be taught to behave in certain ways…"

"Will I drool like this forever?" he butted in.

"Um, no…" I don't think? I hope not…

He guided her back to the street, gathering the rest of the idea from his shy companion as she explained the original experiment. However, as soon as he stepped back among the throngs of people, a flash of orange and black zipped in from the right and stabbed a finger at his chest. "Hey, Dog-boy!"

Kiba glared at the offending finger before slapping it away. His elation had turned to pure and simple annoyance in the space of a millisecond. Only one person was skilled enough to do that.

"Naruto."

"Man, was that hilarious! I can't believe you droooooled at the sight of Hinata-chan! Maybe I should start calling you 'Dog' instead of 'Dog-boy'!" The blonde grinned smugly at Kiba, oblivious to the stuttering heap-of-a-girl shyly peeking out at him from behind Kiba's arm.

"So," continued Naruto, mistaking the renewed red flush on Kiba's cheeks for embarrassment, "are you and Hinata-chan like this?" He wiggled his pinky cheekily. "Or does she not like dog-stink?"

Hinata gasped, torn between continuing to hide behind Kiba and jumping away to assure Naruto that they were indeed not an item.

That simple, quiet sucking in of air gave Kiba the motivation and idea for killing two birds with one stone. After all, one good prank deserves another!

He snaked an arm around Hinata's waist and half-dragged her to press flush against his chest. Before she could even react—a blush was definitely forthcoming—Kiba lowered his head to brush noses, growling her name huskily. Her mouth dropped open at the unusually sensual tone.

It had definitely been his intention to stop the theatrics right at that moment and back off, just playing around enough to startle her and Naruto, but the press of her body against his and one glimpse of an enticing pink tongue paved the road to hell.

Kiba instantly pressed his lips to hers and dipped his tongue briefly inside her still open mouth to catch the bittersweet tang of strawberries before proceeding to thoroughly ravish her in front of the shell-shocked blonde.

Naruto blinked slowly to ensure his sight was intact—all those blows from Sakura-chan could potentially unscrew something one of these days—before shaking his head and muttering, "Guess that answers that question." He hightailed it out of there, weirded out by the sight of innocent, little Hinata-chan exchanging saliva with the dog-nin; also, he was pretty sure that afterwards there would be finger-pointing, and due to past experience, he knew the blame (and fists) would eventually fall upon him. Screw that. A bowl of extra-large pork ramen was bellowing his name. Or was that Sakura-chan…?

Hinata blinked numbly after Kiba finally released her, stumbling backwards to bump into a little, old woman. When the decidedly not so sweet granny shoved her aside with a squeaky curse on her ancestors, she turned to the wall, lethargically bobbing her head and apologizing repeatedly, though dazedly. Kiba watched in satisfied amusement as she then proceeded to trip over her own feet and totter back into the old woman, who graciously head-butted her back over to him, snarling under her breath about lewd behavior and oh, the state of morals these days.

He waited impatiently for her to recover her senses, and then grinned as she half-turned away from him, the tips of her ears bright red. "I-I-I… y-y-you…" she attempted, failing miserably as she hid her heated face in her jacket sleeve.

Genuinely concerned, he tugged her arm away from her eyes. "Hey. Are you okay?"

She didn't answer.

"Hinata. C'mon, answer me, pleeeease?" he drew out in a playful whine, one that never failed to cause a smile to bloom on her pale features, especially when armed with his mastered puppy-dog eye routine.

She pouted unhappily, unsuccessfully repressing a smile. "But Kiba-kun, y-you… and I-I… in front of…!"

"What? The little old lady? Don't think she minded." He purposefully ignored the crone's screeching disagreement two stalls away as well as the gigantic polka-dotted purple elephant Hinata toted around in her heart.

She was quiet, staring at her sandaled feet. "I like Na—"

"Well, anyways, I was just trying to show you that the tables have turned. Guess even you're not immune to this, uh, classical conditioner!" He hoped that was right.

Hinata jerked her head back up to stare at him. She had to desperately fake a cough in her right hand to mask the strained giggles bubbling up inside. When she saw the offended look on his boyish face, she sighed. Ugh. She just couldn't hold a darn grudge to support any attempted indignation whatsoever. Especially with Kiba.

"Besides, if you like Naruto so much—" Here he ignored her widened eyes and gestures indicating he should lower his volume, "—then why didn't you even notice that he left?"

"Eh?" Hinata glanced around, noticing that the hyperactive ninja was nowhere in sight. "Oh." She turned back to him, attempting to stab her finger at his chest, but too embarrassed to actually touch him; she ended up weakly poking her finger somewhere in his near vicinity. Bad dog. "B-b-because you…!"

"Me?" His smile was smug. And adorable… He shifted closer and the spell was broken.

"Don't…!"

Kiba was touching her again, lightly pressing up against her. How did he invade her bubble with so little ease and even smaller reluctance? Even though there were concerns and problems and frustrations flying around in her jumbled head, her body knew what to do when her mind failed her: she instantly shut her eyes and puckered her lips when his mouth once again lowered.

Her eyes snapped open with shock as she registered a wet motion against the tip of her nose. She stared at Kiba, who was nonchalantly tugging on a loose thread on his sleeve. "Did…did you just, um, l-l-lick me?"

His only response was to offer her a mischievous grin. "See? Told ya! Maybe I'm droolin' at you, but you're puckerin' up for me!" Before she had a chance to respond in any way, he whistled to Akamaru, who jumped to attention after having grudgingly resigned himself to a nap under the shade of a generously sized tree. Leaping on his back, Kiba offered her a playful wink before the pair dashed off to their previous destination.

Hinata watched the pair disappear into the crowd, feeling as if the world had swallowed her up and spit her into some strange alternate version of her life. She was Hyuuga Hinata! She certainly did not go around causing boys to drool and subsequently making out with them in public! And she certainly never let Naruto off of her radar! Never!

Deciding that this day was some kind of strange karma for something she may or may not have done in another life—probably as a criminal or a murderer—she headed home, cringing every time a finger pointed in her general direction.

Even with all of the chaos and strangeness, Hinata felt a warmth encompass her unlike any other. She allowed a smile—just the tiniest of dimples—to grace her face as she remembered how it felt to press up against a boy who wanted her and kissed her so hungrily. Her face went pink. As…nice as the experience had been, it would probably be a few days—months—years, before she could meet Kiba again.

Two hours later, as she was heading over to the public baths for a much-needed soak, Hyuuga Hinata literally ran into Inuzuka Kiba.

He drooled. She puckered.

el fin.


	13. September, KakaHina

**September 2008**

**Title: **Takes Two To Tango**  
Author:** MissLe**  
Rating:** PG ( K+ )**  
Challenge:** School's In**  
Pairing:** KakaHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

--- --- ---

Hinata threw open the door into the girl's change room and hurled herself in after. She was late for PE. Being late for PE meant extra pushups, laps around the insanely large campus, or worse, and it was all because of an embarrassing debacle involving a stolen diary earlier at lunch. Her stolen diary.

Pushing away those humiliating memories involving stupid teenage boys who had nothing better to do than make an already painfully shy girl even shier, she looked around the locker room for someone, anyone. Finally, she spotted a familiar head poking its way out of the locker and gulped; a familiar pink head.

Clenching her teeth and fists, Hinata made her way over to Sakura who had just slammed her insanely expensive Guess purse into the locker and was about to put the lock on. She coughed lightly, catching Sakura's green gaze and earning a smirk from the bubblegum pink haired girl.

"And what can I help you with, Hinata?" Sakura enquired with a sugary sweet voice and leaned against the row of lockers with arms crossed against her chest.

"Um…I was h-hoping you'd be able to lend me s-some PE st-strip…" Hinata whispered and lowered her head. Asking Sakura, a girl who always got a kick out of seeing Hinata, the poor little rich girl, beg and just make a plain fool out of herself, was the last thing that Hinata wanted to do, but it was better than the alternative. The alternative being crusty clothes that had not been washed since the beginning of time that the PE teachers always cruelly forced you in to when you forgot your own PE strip.

Needless to say, forgotten PE strip was a rare occurrence indeed.

Sakura raised an eyebrow and twirled her lock on her finger. "And why should I even consider doing that?"

"Because…b-because it would prevent me from catching s-some form of AIDS from the l-lender st-strip?" Hinata begged and wrung her fingers together, feeling incredibly small beneath the stare of the school's Queen Bee.

Sakura gave out a bark of laughter. "As amusing as that may be…I'd rather have you owe me for a very, very long time." She turned around and pulled out several pieces of clothing from the locker she was about to lock, throwing them in Hinata's surprised face.

"Remember, it was the kindness from my heart that saved you from having Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome." She finally closed the lock around the door and wriggled her fingers in the air as she left for the gym where Hinata was supposed to be now. "Don't forget that you owe me, darling."

Hinata was too filled with relief and astonishment to fear the consequences that would later follow for her act of foolishness and forgetfulness and quickly stripped out of her clothes into the borrowed ones so generously loaned out by Sakura.

--

Hinata blushed a furious red and looked around the gym pitifully, anywhere other than where the stares of the students were originated. How stupid of her to trust Sakura. Yet again, her foolishness and forgetfulness paying its toll.

The male population in the suddenly quiet room leered at her as she desperately attempted to pull up the over sized t-shirt that was falling off her shoulder and exposing her cartoon rabbit imprinted bra strap again. Oh, why was the world so cruel to her? Why was Sakura so cruel to her? Here she was, standing in a t-shirt that looked utterly ridiculous on her it was so big and short shorts so damn short you couldn't even see them from beneath the length of the large shirt while Sakura tried to cover up her hysterical laughing with ill disguised coughs.

Oh, God. The leering.

"Ms. Hyuuga…"

Hinata darted her anxious face up to the teacher, Kakashi-sensei, mentally begging for some sort of release from this hell as he took slow, cat like steps towards her. He stopped in front of her with hands clasped behind his back. "This is the dance unit of PE, you know, where you…dance? PE strip is entirely unnecessary."

Hinata looked around the class with horror. There was not one student changed into their PE clothes, all were dressed normally and now giggling amongst themselves. Not one. Hinata shot her gaze over to where Sakura was now doubling over and spewing out mirthful laughter that made Hinata's ears burn a deep red.

"M-may I go get ch-changed back then?" Hinata asked quietly up at Kakashi who had his head tilted in a manner that made his amusement at her predicament clear.

He seemed to ponder this for a moment with a finger pressed up against his lips before looking back down at her with a friendly grin. "No. I think this should be sufficient punishment for being so late, Ms. Hyuuga."

Hinata's mouth opened in a gasp at the sadistic teacher who continued to grin at her in the exact same way. She was about to burst out into tears before the loud and boisterous voice of the other gym teacher, claimed rival of Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei, called out across the expanse of the echoing gym.

"Let's not be so cruel, Kakashi!" He skipped up (yes, skipped) next to the other, now not so amused, teacher and patted him on the back with enough force to send any other person flying, but merely brought about a small, barely detectable flinch from the silver haired man. "If this girl, obviously flowing with youth, wishes to change from such shameful clothing," It was Hinata's turn to flinch and turn even redder. "Then let her!"

"Yes! Let her!" Lee, Gai's prodigy called out from the crowd of students still staring at Hinata. Lee had always been very sweet to her, saving her from stray balls flying at her during soccer or basketball, encouraging her to continue running when she nearly collapses from exertion, and now when she possibly needed it the most, stuck up for her. Hinata wouldn't help but let her shoulders relax and her heart nearly burst from relief and gratefulness.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow before looking around to the other students. "So…I guess we have a bit of a predicament, don't we?" He turned back to Gai. "Who here votes for Ms. Hyuuga here to be able to change back into her clothes?"

Both Gai and Lee pumped their fists straight into the air, the only two who did, to Hinata's utter horror.

"And those in favour of her not…?"

All other hands shot straight up into the air. Hinata vaguely noticed just how high and straight Sakura and her cronies' arms were; everything else was blurry behind her shock, terror, and tears.

"Well," Kakashi shrugged and turned back to the crowd of laughing students. "I suppose that's that. Let's continue our lesson now, shall we?"

Hinata numbly nodded and stayed in her position at the edge of the semi circle to watch Kakashi's instructions. This…this couldn't be happening. Was this even technically legal? She was sure that what she was wearing would normally get her in trouble, yet now she was being forced into wearing it?

"Okay," Kakashi clapped is hands together and looked into the expanse of students. "Let's partner up, okay?"

As if there were some sort of radio wave in the air that everybody else but Hinata were tuned into, partners immediately began forming until she was the only one left standing without one. Even Lee, who usually came to her rescue, was partnered up with…Sakura. Of course. Lee doted upon and threw his love at (a very undeserving, if you asked Hinata) Sakura who callously stomped on it whenever he declared to her his "flaming love so full of youth." It seemed Sakura was using it to Hinata's humiliation…again.

Hinata looked around desperately for another partner, boy, girl, it, anything, yet came up empty handed and slumped her shoulders in defeat. Uncomfortably, she began to fiddle with the end of her shirt indecisively; unsure as to whether having the long shirt pulled further down to cover her extremely exposed legs was worse than having it pulled up more to show that she actually was wearing something beneath it.

"Seems like you're the odd one out, Hinata." Kakashi mused and seemed oblivious to the surrounding giggling from students who were getting far too much of a kick out of Hinata's suffering. "Then, you'll dance with me, I guess."

Hinata froze and became rigid. Being a dancing partner with the teacher meant being the demonstration couple who explained and showed everything in front of the entire class. It wasn't as if she was bad or anything…she just knew that if she did trip up, it would only fuel the class's mirth and cause her even more mistakes…a never ending circle of torture.

"What? Surely you can spare this old man a dance?" There was a hint of teasing in Kakashi's voice as he said this.

Hesitantly, Hinata nodded and stepped forwards. Kakashi wasn't old. He was maybe a decade or so older than herself, but still a prime target for school girl crushes with his tall, muscular physique, spiky silver hair, and laid back attitude. In fact, she was already receiving death glares from various other girls paired up with less than appealing boys.

"Good, now we can finally start." Kakashi said and took her hand, linking his fingers together with hers and placing his other hand lightly on the small of her back. Hinata, knowing exactly what they were going to do next, placed her free hand on his shoulder, staggered their feet and closed her fingers around his. Was it weird for her to note just how warm his hand was against hers?

"Good job, Ms. Hyuuga." Kakashi gave her a grin and a nod before looking at the rest of the clueless class. "Hinata here seems to have figured out what we're going to do, who else knows?"

There was a silence spread across the room and no raised hands to Kakashi's obvious displeasure that was given away by his frown. "Come on, you guys have to remember something from these last few years in high school." He looked around once more and said, "No?"

Hinata gave a quiet chuckle as she heard the words, "Useless bunch of monkeys." being uttered from her teacher's lips and for a couple of seconds felt relaxed in his hold. He looked down at Hinata and sighed, "You know what you're doing, right, Hinata?" When she nodded, a relieved grin melted across his chiseled face. "Good, then we'll have to demonstrate, won't we?"

"Alright, class, this is a waltz, if you don't remember. Watch us and then try it yourself. I'm sure it'll sink in after a demo." Both he and Hinata straightened their postures as he took a step forward, and her one back. He swept one of his feet back in a graceful L formation, turning them and beginning more simple steps that Hinata felt were entirely too simple for her tastes.

The other students watched them and began to slowly comprehend the task at hand, clumsily fumbling their ways through the dance steps. Hinata took small amusement at their inability to complete such a simple task; even Sakura was getting annoyed with Lee's over exuberant actions and began snapping at him. Oh, how the tables were beginning to turn.

She turned her head back in front of her and began absentmindedly counting the small threads on Kakashi's soft maroon sweater. For once, PE was coming easily to her; too easy. Of course, she was glad that the activity required no ways of her making an idiot of herself, but she wanted a chance to dance. The normal partners she got in PE were always terrible dancers who gave her feet bruises beyond belief and left her with no room to enjoy herself in something she actually excelled at. But Kakashi was an excellent partner with smooth graceful movements and confidence in himself; she wanted to be able to use that.

"Let's spice this up a bit." Kakashi murmured and surprised her by twirling her around. Delightedly, Hinata followed his lead, swirling around in his arms, pivoting and swaying when necessary. She was enjoying herself, enjoying herself in PE with her gym teacher.

She laughed breathlessly as he brought it up a notch, almost enough to make her trip over their feet. His dancing was exceptionally good and even put hers at shame; she had never had as much fun with it as she was then.

"Have you taken dancing before?" He asked and spun her before reattaching his hand back to hers.

"Y-yes. Once. Ballroom d-dancing." She replied and felt herself tense again now that she was required to actually speak.

"Why'd you quit? You seem to have a talent for it."

Hinata furrowed her eyebrows and resorted to counting the threads on his sweater again. "It got b-boring." A lie. She had loved ballroom dancing and would have continued it for a long time had her father not objected and told her she needed to be spending her time more productively and less on "frivolous activities such as these."

"Really?" His eyebrow was raised as he said this, telling her that he didn't believe a word of it, but pushed no more on the subject. He stopped abruptly, making her bump into him and trip. She gave a small gasp as she fell forwards and grabbed the hands that were held out to stop her. Blushing, she dropped her hands and fidgeted on her feet.

"Quite the interesting choice of PE strip you have, Ms. Hyuuga." Kakashi delicately pinched the side of her shirt that had fallen off her shoulder again to expose her pale skin between his fingers and pulled it back up.

Her entire face was red as she shook her head vigorously and stuttered, "I-it wasn't my ch-choice."

There was a wry smirk on his face as he eyed her up and down. "Indeed."

Worst day of her life.

"Okay, guys!" Kakashi called out the rest of the struggling students' attention while Hinata turned her gaze to the ground and squirmed under the gazes of the class. "Since you guys seem to have gotten such a good grasp on the waltz, we're going to move onto the tango."

There were a few whistles from the boys who laughed among themselves, eyeing down girls that would make excellent partners for the tango. Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Okay, boys, don't get too excited. Since you guys seem to have lost all grasp on how to even do the basics, we're going to start with those. Nothing too…intimate."

There were all around groans from the hormonal boys.

"Follow the positioning Ms. Hyuuga and I will be demonstrating, then watch us first before attempting it." Kakashi gripped her fingers again and held one hand lightly against her side close beneath her breast. Hinata blushed and took deep breaths as she placed her hand delicately against his shoulder that she realized was too tall for her and tried remembering that his hand was only there for demonstration's sake.

The worst thing about it was that she liked where it was.

He took a step forwards, she took one back, he took one to the left and she followed his lead, taking one to her right. They continued in this relaxing manner until the rest of the students began the monotonous steps that were a little less bumbling than before. Hinata finally let go of her tension and let herself lean more into Kakashi's hold.

Glancing up at him, she challenged him with a small raise of her eyebrow and sudden twist of her hip. A smirk graced his lips and he pulled her flush against his chest and glued his hip to her, eliciting a sharp gasp from Hinata. Hesitantly, she wrapped her arm around him further, pulling him closer and closed her eyes, letting Kakashi lead her. For a teacher, she was embarrassed to admit how good he smelt and how good he felt against her like this.

But admitting that out loud would be the last thing she would ever do.

Hinata was startled as the bell suddenly rang, signaling the end of class and the start of the seven minutes she had to get to her next one. Students suddenly leapt away from each other and filed out of the gym in a large mob, quickly leaving only Hinata and Kakashi left.

"I-I should g-go…" Hinata was about to disengage herself from him, but was foolishly surprised when he dipped her low enough for her to feel the tips of her messily tied back ponytail brush against the floor.

"Then, until next time, Ms. Hyuuga." He pulled her back up with a smooth jerk of his arm, making the momentum of her movement cause her to collide with his chest again. Then, to her utter shock, he grasped her hand and brought it up to his lips and placed a brush of a kiss against it.

"Do try to be on time next class, will you, Hinata?" He gave her a slight grin and pulled the cloth of the t-shirt that slid off her shoulder back up. "And please refrain from wearing such…" His fingers brushed against her collarbone that was being exposed again and he raised an eyebrow at her, "…Distracting clothes, again."

Hinata nodded and sprinted out of the gym feeling that her head would explode from the blood rushing to it.

— — —

Yes, I'm addicted to DateMe's contests, there's nothing I can do about that. I don't ever think I'll win, per say, but it's always a lot of fun to try with these pairings I've never actually got around to doing or have no inspiration to work with.

If you squint you'll be able to see the slight tie in with another story of mine. :D

Ciao,

MissLe


	14. October, ItaHina

**October 2008**

**Title:** Behind the Mask**  
Author:** rallybabe89**  
Rating: **G ( K )**  
Challenge:** Fearless Hearts**  
Pairing: **ItaHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

--- --- ---

Dying, that's what everything around Hinata was doing. The trees, the grass, the pretty blue flowers (that reminded her of the boy who she was risking her life for) and her teammates were all dying.

Her team had been trailing Itachi and Kisame for a while but during the chase Hinata had split up from Kisame and her boys, Kiba and Shino, while keeping tabs on Itachi. She knew that if she could follow the Uchiha then her long time crush would be able to get his best friend back. She was doing well up until she saw two swirling red dots then everything became dead and dark.

Hinata didn¢t fear death for herself. In fact she welcomed death everyday of her life since the dreaded day her father left her to train with Kuranei sensei. Waking up every day to hear her father¢s taunts and to be eyed with glares and belittling expressions hurt her. Being subjected to her cousin¢s hatred openly since the chuunin exams so many years ago, made her sad when she hadn¢t actually died that time. She would love an easy escape called death. Hinata didn¢t fear death but that didn¢t mean she was fearless.

The one thing she did fear was leaving this world without making an impact or being strong enough to save her friends. And right now she was living her worst fear, becoming a burden on her dying teammates.

And Itachi knew that and used that to his full advantage.

As his active Sharingan spun, trapping the Hyuuga heiress in a self imposed prison, he contemplated whether he could ever invoke that fear in real life.

He wondered if he had the heart to break and shatter the delicate person that Hinata was.

But as he watched her struggle against the bindings that her own mind had put on her body, he saw that she was much stronger than he was. Her fear was also her biggest strength, turning her weakness into her desire to become better. Her strength also provoked his fear; fear that he had done wrong by murdering his clan and listening to the Elders.

To him, she had the innocent mindset that everything that the village and the elders did was right. She believed that her family and clan could never be wrong.

But then again Itachi hadn¢t been watching the heiress battle her own kin against the threads of destiny. After all Hinata had fought against her clan and the elders before. She had tried to fight her cousin and knock it into his head that the clan could be changed without violence. She was innocent to avoid murder but she still fought against the Council and the elders when they tried to give Hanabi the title of heir.

The cool autumn wind smacked him hard across the face as he realized that indeed the sweet and innocent Hinata was breaking away from his Sharingan, a feat that only the pink-haired apprentice of the Hokage had done before.

Breathing the fresh scent of the darkening forest in, he released his Sharingan and looked at the frail yet much more powerful being that lay on the ground in front of him.

Walking slowly over to her, he wiped off her sweat and helped her up. Smiling slightly he let her lean on him as she had no power to fight him or escape.

Even if she wanted to escape, he couldn¢t let her.

Hinata opened her eyes and saw the smiling face of Itachi. For a moment she was shocked and tried to tell her that her mind was playing tricks on her again but when she had no strength and leaned herself on him she came to the conclusion that she couldn¢t even fight him.

Turning to see his newly exposed face, Hinata could see years being lifted off of the nineteen-year-olds¢ face. The mask he wore to cause fear among others was lifted and Hinata could see the pain that was hidden behind it.

She summoned up her strength and wiped a tear from Itachi¢s eyes as she listened to his heart breaking tale of a clan, loyalty to a village and a brother who hated him beyond belief.

And that was the day that Hinata no longer feared anything as she left an impact on the Uchiha¢s heart. Maybe this wasn¢t really autumn but spring in disguise for the two of them, bringing a new beginning and a birth of a new relationship and understanding.

Because the death and destruction of autumn and winter prepared everyone to look forward to the birth that came with spring.


	15. November, ShikaHina

**November 2008**

**Title:** Me, Myself, and You**  
Author:** BlueQuartzFoxy**  
Rating:** PG-13 ( T )**  
Challenge:** Falling for You**  
Pairing:** ShikaHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

— — —

A smoky exhale was soon followed by a sigh. Retreating to the rooftop was far from visiting Kurenai-san, like he had originally intended to do. But, awkward second guesses and guilt forced him to climb the firescape up to the roof. The ciggerate between his fingertips was slowly burning out. He'd have to come up with a better excuse before then.

'I don't want to smoke around Kurenai-san...that sounded so stupid.' Shikamaru thought on his excuse.

Asuma-sensei had smoked around her and his impressionable Genin- now Chunnin- students, without a care.

'But I'm not Asuma-sensei.' Shikamaru reminded himself while taking another drag from the cig.

The bad habit was quickly becoming a crutch. Just like his cowardly nature.

Crushing the brunt-out ciggerate between his fingers; Shikamaru tried to distract himself from taking another out and lighting up. Brown eyes looked out first at gold, red, and brown covered tree tops, then at fluffy white clouds as they lazily crawled across a blue sky.

As a kid he would have laid on his back and watch the sky for hours. Life had no meaning, no greater purpose back then.

Now he seemed to be stuck in adult world with a kid-sized understanding. His own father laughed at Shikamaru's promise to protect Kurenai-sensei and her unborn child.

"You don't get it do you?" Shikaku had said.

Shikamaru remembered looking up from the shoji board and answering.

"Get what?"

Shikaku shook his head, clicking the winning piece in place.

"You're far from being an adult. You don't even know who or what you are. So, don't go making promises you can't keep, son."

What adulthood and broken promises had to do with anything, Shikamaru wasn't sure.

--

Hinata unconsciously bit her bottom lip, her fingers gripping the doorknob; but she lingered in the hallway. For a moment, she just watched Shikamaru as he finished one ciggerate, crushed it, then pulled out another. He waited awhile before lighting the second one, then he didn't smoke until it burned down halfway.

Mustering up as much courage as she could, Hinata opened the door wider, sliding out. The sound of the door closing caused both teens to flinch, both guilty of being caught in two different acts.

The ciggerate was quickly flicked aside and crumbled under foot, but it was too late. Hinata had already seen him with it.

And Hinata inched towards the door, but he had already spotted her.

Awkward silence settled in, brown and pale eyes avoiding each other.

"I...I thought you had quit."

"And I thought you only stalked Naruto."

Those words cut her to the quick, causing Hinata to squirm uncomfortably.

"I'm not here to talk about N-Naruto-kun," Hinata said, slowly lifting her gaze up from the rooftop beneath their feet.

"What then?" Shikamaru groused, obviously not in the mood to talk. Or maybe he was just tired.

Hinata found it hard to tell when Shikamaru was grumpy or bored, so she treaded lightly all the same.

"Um..K-Kurenai-sensei saw you climbing the fire escape. She wanted to check up on you. But, I said I'd go, since it's getting difficult for her to climb up stairs nowadays."

--

'Stupid.' Shikamaru scolded himself. He knew it was a bad idea to come here.

Outwardly, he shrugged as if to casually dismiss Hinata and her concerns, or rather Kurenai's concerns.

"I wanted to have a smoke before I visited her. Smoke is bad for pregnant women," he spouted off.

It was logical, even considerate. Yet, Hinata wasn't moved. She stood rooted, blocking his only exit- the door.

"Well..." she poked her fingers, "since you've already smoked one ciggerate, you should be okay to visit Kurenai-san."

'She saw that too?' Shikamaru wondered. Either he sucked at being aware of his surroundings, or Hinata was a better shinobi than most gave her credit for.

Still, Shikamaru shook his head, "No. I've got to uh...let the smoke air out of my clothes."

The Hyuuga girl frowned, her gaze narrowing at him.

"Please stop with the excuses Shikamaru-kun," Hinata said, "Kurenai-sensei would like to see you..."

"Why?" Shikamaru returned.

Flustered by his curt response, Hinata floundered for a reason, only to come up with nothing.

"I thought so." Shikamaru said with a snort.

He turned away from her,"Look, why don't you mind your own business and leave me alone. If I want to visit Kurenai-san, I'll do it in my own time."

--

Shikamaru thought the silence meant he had won. He felt guilty for being so harsh towards Hinata; but he didn't want her to know why he couldn't see Kurenai-sensei.

The last time he saw her, was when he told her Asuma was dead. Even now Shikamaru could clearly recall the look on her face fade from surprised, to disbelief, then tangible anguish. He had watched Kurenai-san, a strong woman and kunoichi, inwardly collapse, falling to the floor on her knees. Shikamaru could still recall the taste of salty tears as she cried, cheek pressed against his.

Every time Shikamaru thought of Kurenai, he thought back to Asuma.

'It was my fault. I wasn't quick enough, strong enough. If I had only figured out Hidan's jutsu before...'

Shikamaru was shocked out of his doubtful thoughts, when two arms gently wound around his middle.

"What..." he asked, feeling Hinata resting her head against his back.

"What are you doing?"

--

Hinata wasn't quite sure how to answer him. She had thought about leaving when Shikamaru had snapped at her. But, she waited instead.

Shikamaru had turned away from her, assuming she was going to walk away.

She saw the slightest tremor of the boy's shoulders. On a hunch, Hinata slowly walked forward and hugged Shikamaru.

Alarm bells went off inside Hinata's head. She could feel Shikamaru tense up at her touch, so obviously a hug wasn't the answer. Yet, Hinata was determined not to be moved, even if this was turning out to be very awkward.

"I...just thought you needed this," Hinata tried to explain, the words falling flat on her tongue.

--

Shikamaru knew he could pull away. He wasn't a very strong, but he would have an advantage over Hinata.

He stayed though, why was a mystery even to him.

"Why are you bothering me anyway? Is Naruto out on another mission or something?"

The girl shook her head, but Shikamaru could guess Hinata was most likely blushing.

He sighed, loud enough so Hinata could both hear and feel it.

"Why then? And don't say it's because Kurenai-san asked you to check up on me."

Hinata didn't respond, she just held him tighter.

Against his will, Shikamaru found himself relaxing in her arms. Holding his shoulders up and back straight was just too exhausting, he excused.

--

Hinata noticed when Shikamaru stopped fighting her.

'You can let him go now,' reason dictated.

Hinata kept her arms in place. Circumstances aside, holding someone this close felt...nice.

Hinata felt her cheeks blush, shaking her head, 'This is Shikamaru-kun though. I don't feel anything for him. I love Naruto-kun.'

Her argument grew weaker though the longer they stood there together.

--

Finally, Shikamaru wiggled out of Hinata's reach. He wanted some personal space back, plus another nicotine craving had kicked in.

As he reached for the pack in his jacket pocket, Shikamaru looked up at Hinata.

Her face was flushed for some reason, she still manged to give him a disapproving look.

'Who does she think she is? My mother?' Shikamaru thought to himself.

Sour feelings aside, Shikamaru looked at the ciggerate in his hand, looked back at the girl.

Although Hinata had surprised, annoyed, and confused him that day; Shikamaru knew he'd feel horrible if he disappointed her.

"Troublesome," he groused. While he complained, Shikamaru put the ciggerate down, then fished out the entire pack to leave behind.

Hand stuffed inside his pockets, Shikamaru arched a dark eyebrow in Hinata's direction.

"Happy now?"

He hadn't expected her to smile back at him. So when the Hyuuga heiress nodded, her lips curved pleasantly, warmly in his favor, Shikamaru was momentarily taken aback.

--

"Yes," Hinata said, walking slightly ahead of Shikamaru to open the door leading down to the indoor staircase.

"Would you...like to come with me? To visit Kurenai-sensei?" she asked gingerly.

'He's going to say no.' Hinata thought, preparing herself for rejection.

Shikamaru paused, as if thinking over the offer. Then shrugged.

"Why not? I've run out of excuses, thanks to you."

Hinata smiled again, honestly pleased with herself.

"Glad I could help."

--

Notes: Not 'quite' romantic or friendship, but I guess a sort of in between/limbo relationship...thing? ...I don't know! Quit asking me questions!


	16. December, IbikiHina

**December 2008**

**Title:** Hinata's Matchstick Birthday**  
Author:** heavenlyhot**  
Rating:** G ( K )**  
Challenge:** Birthday**  
Pairing:** IbikiHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

--- --- ---

It was quick, so quick Ibiki didn't even notice it. He was tracking a missing nin who had information about the latest attack on an allying village.

His profile was simple, a loner since his childhood, hated his parents, killed small animals and he was dismissed of his ninja duties for stabbing his comrade, nobody knew why.

For the first time in a long time Ibiki was wrong. This man had people backing him up which caused trouble for both him and his long time partner, Hinata.

He doesn't remember much, not how his legs became badly broken or how they ended up in a large hole.

"You shouldn't move," It was her voice, softer than the snow that surrounded them. "Your left leg is broken in two places and your right has a deep wound." She explained to him slowly and clearly as though she was talking to a child.

Ibiki blinked and took in everything around him. He was on his back, his head resting in her warm lap, to him it looked like they were in a well made out of snow.

"It's dark," he said roughly and grunted as he tried to sit up. "How long have we been down here?" Her hands came up to the side of his head as he propped himself onto his elbows and she pulled him gently back down.

"Stay down," She told him in an airy firm voice, "We have been here for no longer than two hours. Stop trying to move, you'll damage your legs even more."

"If we've been here that long why didn't you go to get help, I could've been in the hospital by now." Ibiki glared at her, he saw a small smile on her lips.

Her pale soft purple eyes bore deeply into his dark almost black ones, "I can't move much either."

His eyes flicked over her small body trying to see where she was wounded. His eyes flicked in surprise when he noticed the great amount of blood leaking from her left side.

"I've stopped the bleeding but… besides help is coming." He looked closely at her face and was taken back.

She was cold, she was freezing, her body was shaking and her lips turning an ice blue. For the first time since he woke up he felt the cold settle in, freezing his blood and causing his body to shiver.

Was he going to die there in the snow well? Was she going to die there or was help going to come? He didn't want to work with her, he didn't want to see her stuttering self, he though her weak and easily breakable. Not fit to be a ninja.

That was the first time he was wrong.

Since then they had worked together for almost five years and the thought of her dying now at her young age made his stomach burn.

Even worse was in those five years was how they had changed, changed together, she only stuttered when she was nervous and he started to look forward to seeing her.

He enjoyed the times they were together, be they times of silence or when her loud annoying friends came and joined them while they were eating.

But Ibiki knew that there was nothing that could happen between them, he was Thirty-four and Hinata was Twenty-three. He had scars covering his body, covering his bold head, he enjoyed torturing people and she, Hinata was perfect.

Hinata had scars, small scars that covered her forearms and her back, she had long waist length dark indigo hair and pale purple gem like eyes. She was kind and believed every one should have a quick painless death.

"I was going to give you something later," Ibiki muttered, "But I guess there's no time like the present, right?" Her lap had lost its warmth and her hands were almost as cold as ice.

"Y-you know h-how I f-f-feel about that stuff," she was stuttering, her teeth chatted and he knew without looking at her that her lips at gotten a dark icier blue.

"Hmmm, I know, I know you don't like people giving you things, makes you feel like you owe them." Ibiki felt something drop onto his cheek. It had started to snow.

"I-it's s-s-snowing," She sounded almost happy, her eyes lit up and she smiled.

"I can't give it to you anyway, not yet," Ibiki didn't want her to think he had given up on help arriving.

"Hmmm?" She lifted one hand away from his face and caught a falling snow flake, it melted slowly and as she went to put her hand back on Ibiki's cheek he noticed the frostbite around the finger tips.

He wanted to see her smile again, even if for a second. He reached into his jacket, his arm moved slowly as though it would break at any given second.

He took out a little box of matches.

"I know it isn't a candle but I figured since it's your birthday," and may be your last, "It should do the trick until we get back."

A giggle came from her parted lips and Ibiki could see her breath in the icy air, "O-ok."

He lifted both hands, took out the only matchstick and lit it. The sudden bright light caused him to blink, his fingers instantly warm and he could see Hinata's whole face in the bright glow.

Still beautiful, but pale as snow and lips as blue as ice but her eyes shined with more happiness then he had ever seen.

"Make a wish or something." He whispered as he watched her.

A smile tugged at her lips and her eyes slowly shut. She reminded him of an angel, the stained glass kind in Church, so amazing.

Hinata smiled as she took in a shallow breathe before blowing out the match.

As he threw the match away with a flick of his wrist he felt her frozen lips of his cold forehead.

"Th-thank you, s-s-strangely it w-was th-the best th-thing anyone h-has done f-for me." She shifted so her forehead was resting on his.

It was long, barely a few seconds before someone called to them form above, "Hey are you guys alive down there!? We're sending some Medi nins down ok!"

For the years to come to both Hinata and Ibiki that night was known as Hinata's Matchstick Birthday.


End file.
